Guantanamo

[Geordie]

Just watched Shaker Aamer's harrowing interview on the news. My god this is an awful world at times! If his testimony is to be taken as the truth, we need to shut this shite hole down now!I know war is a dirty business and we need to fight fire with fire, but for pity's sake we need to shut this place down.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35089908

[Gixxerboy]

I know it's not a nice place mate but at least that bloke still has a head affixed to his shoulders which is more than can be said for a few of our Western boys.

[neil]

so come up with an alternative to it that might actually achieve the same results

[wastrel]

you`re actually missing the point of Guantanamo, or, rather, it`s location- it`s been mentioned many times why don`t the detainees sue the American government if they have a case, this is exactly why they`re in Guantanamo (Cuba) & not mainland America, they cannot in law, sue in America, about treatment they received by whomever, on foreign soil- for instance- we were tortured in Cuba- too bad, nowt to do with America in law at least!, ergo, America can treat them any way they want, there is NO comeback for them cos it`s not on American soil-factomondo guys!

[Brooksy]

Don't forget, Shaker was and is completely innocent, it bears no relation to Westerners being beheaded, and he still came home and told radicals in Britain to bugger off abroad and leave us alone if they don't like our country.

The man deserves maximum respect.

[Blackbaronfish]

Casualties of war !!!!. Im not condoning it by any means, but we still need to deal with it.

BBF

[Katzenjammer]

Don't forget, Shaker was and is completely innocent, it bears no relation to Westerners being beheaded, and he still came home and told radicals in Britain to bugger off abroad and leave us alone if they don't like our country.
The man deserves maximum respect.

Two quotes sprang to mind when I read what he had said. Both from Hamlet (the play that is not the advert!)

"one may smile and smile and be a villain" and "the lady doth protest too much methinks"

It could be a clever ploy to throw any future heat off himself?

As for Wastrel's claim - I'm not so sure. American service personnel have been punished for actions on foreign soil. Those mistreated prisoners in Iraq for instance. But then on the other hand many American army rapists based in the UK have been whisked away before justice could be served.

There is no doubt that Guantanamo was a place of man's continued inhumanity to man whatever the provocations were and they were many as Gixxer quite rightly reminds us. How many westerners have been given less of a chance before their heads were made to dance?

Given the psychotic psyche of the Americans (their murder rate and prison statistics prove this even when set against other regimes) I can well believe equal evil was perpetrated in that camp. If UK agents were present then they have let our nation down by not protesting and asking the US to "play the game.".

Unfortunately at the end of the day "if war is hell, I'm not to blame!" to quote Don Maclean (Everybody loves me baby)

[Outandabout]

I am not as well informed or upto speed on the politics of Guantanamo as some of you guys seem to be, so this May sound like an ignorant reply but it is how i feel.
I dont know what info if any the americans got out of the detainees in guantanamo, but if saved lives then I am all for it.
Did it serve as a deterent for others? I don't think so, so I will stick with "if it saved lives I am all for it.
Kevin

[wastrel]

As for Wastrel's claim - I'm not so sure. American service personnel have been punished for actions on foreign soil. Those mistreated prisoners in Iraq for instance. But then on the other hand many American army rapists based in the UK have been whisked away before justice could be served.

American personnel are responsible for their actions, or their officers will take the heat (if their any good- not always a given) as they give the orders,
the question was why don`t the prisoners in Guantanamo sue the US government if they think they have a genuine case, the answer is simply, they can`t.
I wouldn`t be surprised in the least if they can sue us, if British involvement can be proved, knowing our lot they`d get financial & legal aid & god knows what else for emotional distress etc. for EG, the Libyan family of the only man ever convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, were brought over (guess who paid for flights?) & put up in a detached sandstone villa in glasgows east end for they duration of his sentence so he could receive family visits, otherwise he would be being treated inhumanely!! a council worker told me one of the reasons the council were so keen to end his sentence & repatriate him, was to get the lot of them off the councils annual bills!

[Katzenjammer]

Well you are probably right. But it is only right that the US as the major world power is beyond being sued. After all they will or have saved us all from a) commies b) terrorists c) zombies d) aliens e) ourselves. Just as it also right that they can extradite any UK citizen who moans about them or belittles them or is ironic with them but we cannot reciprocate.

Sorry I need to answer the door.....................................................................................................

Hello? wtf..................................................