A Letter To The ACLU About The Camp Pendleton 8.
Dear ACLU,
I’m an American living in Australia, and I like to keep abreast of what is happening on the other side of the world.
I am particularly concerned at the way the prison system seems to be headed, with the lack of rights available for those incarcerated.
To that end, is there likely to be any action undertaken against the unlawful detention of the 7 marines and 1 sailor currently imprisoned at Camp Pendleton? Everything I’ve seen about this disgraceful situation highlights the dreadful conditions prisoners face around our great country. Solitary confinement for 23 hours a day, arms and legs shackled when the men so confined are out of their cells, and not one charge has been laid.
I would be more than happy to participate in an action to bring attention to this miscarriage of justice, but so far there doesn’t seem to be any on the ACLU horizon.
Please let me know what you guys are planning regarding this situation, as I know that you have the welfare of ALL prisoners of American (in)justice at heart.
Thanks in advance,
nilk.
I was going to wait a bit longer to blog on this, as I prefer to wait 7 days for a response. However, I noticed over at the Anti-Idiotarian Rotti that the shackles have been stricken.
And about bloody time, too.
Somehow, I doubt that my literary skills have persuaded the ACLU to get involved, and I'm more than sure I won't get a response.
In any case, God be with these marines and sailor and whatever the outcome, may they be treated with the dignity and respect they deserve. They are in my prayers.
As for the lefties who so love to bleat on about Gitmo and Abu Graibh, why are they so silent now?
In my opinion, it is incredibly unlikely that these men will get anything resembling a fair trial. They are, after all, members of the US military and were over in Iraq. Heaven forbid that something occurred in the theatre of war that was unpleasant and/or fatal for a non-US military person.
posted by Nilk @ 10:47 PM
13 Comments:
Lack of rights, solitary confinement for 23 hours a day, arms and legs shackled when the men so confined are out of their cells, and not one charge has been laid.
Terrible isn't it, makes you really feel for people held in such terrible and illegal conditions, funnily enough I have been saying the same such thing for the past 4 years. Or is it suddenly different when it is Americans being held?
The difference, Lucy, is that the Camp Pendleton 8 are US citizens operating in a warzone, under very strict regulations.
The detainees in Guantanamo Bay are not US citizens, yet were operating in a warzone under not so strict regulations.
Additionally, those in Guantanamo Bay still get their prayer mats, qurans handled with gloved hands and halal food.
I'd have liked to see the same courtesy extended to Nick Berg, for example.
The jihadis have no respect for anything other than death, which is a tragedy.
An even greater tragedy is that those campaigning for the release of the Gitmo detainees are remarkably silent on American citizens being held in their own country.
Obviously it's okay to do it to US military men, but it's not okay to do it to foreign nationals who are determined to kill you come hell or high water.
How do you feel, living in a country where your government does nothing to protect you and everything to appease those who would willingly gut you?
Speaking as a denizen of Brackistan, I find it an affront to my sensibilities.
The double standards in plain sight here are nauseating, and as ever those who don't toe the lefty line are hung out to dry while willing killers are pandered to and lionised.
Of course i cannot speak for everyone on the left but as i previously said 'funnily enough I have been saying the same such thing for the past 4 years'. Nobody should be held without charges and I dont care if you are American, Iraqi, Afghan, military, insurgent or a trespasser, if someone has got the evidence to haul you in and hold you in prison, then they should know why, be tried for it and punished or released accordingly.
Once upon a time I would Lucy, but we are in desperate times, and they call for desperate measures.
What do you do with detainees who are released and then return to the fray?
(See athis article in the Washington Post)
What do you do when you know that you cannot trust someone not to re-offend?
In the case of Guantanamo Bay, it's a given that the men will re-join the battle against the Evil Satan (aka the Western world) and infidels everywhere.
Why would you want to release someone who intends to kill you? Under the Geneva Conventions, they were captured in a warzone, they were not operating according to the rules of engagement, they were not in uniform, they should have been shot out of hand.
No question about it.
Freedom of conscience, freedome of speech, enquiry, religion and our laws governing the rights of prisoners are contructs of our own making. Those fighting jihad against us do not believe in those, and certainly do not respect those.
They take advantage of them - look at David Hicks, for example. The lovely young lad from Adelaide who was caught in Afghanistan fighting with the Taliban. He's done nothing but bleat about how hard done by he is, and because Australia wouldn't agitate for his release, he's wasted taxpayer dollars both yours and mine, to get himself declared a British citizen so as to pressure your government to save his sorry arse.
Of course, once he's done that, he'll spend a few months in Britain then come back to Oz (I hope they knock back his application, but I doubt it will happen).
Of course, if he had have been shot as an unlawful combatant, then we wouldn't be having this discussion.
Am I being harsh? Yes, I am, and it's not a side of myself that I like, but it's also a case of being pragmatic.
I don't believe that we can live in a self-imposed cocoon of inferiority, and I'm damned if I'll sit back and wait for the collapse of our civilisation.
The tactics used by those detainees who lie continuously, get released and then go back into service is identical to those who consider themselves to be prisoners of war.
They consider themselves to be prisoners of war - yet the bleeding-heart morons of the world think that all they're trying to do is be good muslims or "freedom fighters" who may be a little bit misguided.
What is a nation, or rather, a world supposed to do when fanatics of another belief declare war on you? Sitting idle and being nice to them just does not work. Name a situation in history when one element of society decided to take over another and the whole thing was solved with words?
I'm starting to wonder that considering the numbers of nations involved in this 'conflict': could it almost be perceived as world war 3? This conflict is virtually identical in nature in so many ways to those in history where 'undesirable' elements of society are happily being eliminated because they don't believe. This war is primarily a war of words at the moment but it will get worse before it gets better.
I just hope that the RIGHT-thinking people of this world (ie: those who can plainly see that Islam is NOT the Religion of Peace) have got some party-favours aimed squarely at Mecca and a few similar terrorist-harbouring regions just to say "thanks" for when one of these halfwit zealots lets decides that a few more infidels should die.
You lot have your corner or the world - go live in it and stay the hell out of countries that have developed past the stone age. In fact, take the lefties with you - you'll need something to eat and some dhimmis to clean the huts.
Organistations like the ACLU, like the left are pro terrorist, they don't give a toss about human rights, only human rights for terrorists and the enemy.
So is the international media, hence the pages and pages devoted to flushed korans or some parasite not getting halaal food, and nothing about these US Soldiers.
See http://www.coxandforkum.com/, Valor Blind posted on June 13.
Yup. A happy accident of birth. :)
'Organistations like the ACLU, like the left are pro terrorist, they don't give a toss about human rights, only human rights for terrorists and the enemy.'
So ignorant of other peoples views it's criminal. Disturbingly funny and extremley niave that you can make such a sweeping statement about such a diverse group but still mind numbingly criminal. Tony Blair is head of a Socialist Government so i agree that some lefty's don't care about human rights, he couldn't care less about human rights.
Nilk - Nick & Nora's current post is excellent; you might want to have a look. I wasn't entirely sure of what direction they were heading with it, until I got to the end. Their points are, as always, sharp and astute. You'll find it relevant to this theme.
http://thethinmanreturns.blogspot.com/2006/06/weighing-up-risks.html
Caz,
Nilk may be a yank but she's all Aussie (meant in a good way :)
Jai - I have small claim to USA fame: a genuine great grandfather born in Massachusetts; just a leetle bit American!
I don't see a problem there, Caz :)
I have a mate here in Brisbane whose dad was born in Canada. Whether any of this is true or not (I believe him and he trusts *his* sources) that his father used to drive trucks in the days of prohibition that belonged to a bloke who eventually got done for tax evasion and that his middle name of 'Lee' is due to a direct family connection to the General.
Can't confirm or deny any of this but it makes a nice sidebar :)
Absolutely right on, Jai!
-----which is what the Dan Simmons story posted in April said. All true. If not true now, we're heading that way!
linda
I'm not "anonymous" but have no web and don't know how often I'll stop by
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