Saturday, March 13, 2004
Well, this is interesting. One of the five Britons freed from Guantanamo Bay has said he received "horrific" treatment while he was detained by the US government. Unsurprisingly Colin Powell, in this case, has denied that the guards so much as looked at them funny.
"We have watched Guantanamo Bay very carefully knowing of the interest of a number of nations, including the United Kingdom, and knowing that we have responsibilities under the Geneva Convention and because we are Americans, we don't abuse people who are in our care."
Excuse me? At exactly what point was it that the US Government decided that the Geneva Convention applied to people at Guantanamo Bay? Was it while they were leaving or something? If the Geneva Convention applied to them then why was the US Government so insistent at the start of it all that they were 'illegal enemy combatants' and therefore not covered by the Geneva Convention? This White House press briefing says that everyone at Guantanamo will be treated in a manner consistent with the principles of the Third Geneva Convention, but then immediately goes on to say that the Convention only applies to members of the Taliban, not to members of Al Qaeda. Now, of course I'm naturally suspicious, but point two could be read as a qualification of point one, in which case it allows wiggle room for the legal torture of inmates. Why would someone say they were part of a plot to drop anthrax bombs on the Houses of Parliament if American agents were doing nothing more than giving him the Paddington Bear hard stare? If the US administration was being as fair and honourable as Powell claims, what do they gain from letting news circulate that the conditions in the camps are awful and treatment is inhumane? Was this all for the benefit of the toxic Texan, that he doesn't mind the US's stock in world opinion go down just so long as it's seen as being because he's being a hard man with the terrorists?
"We have watched Guantanamo Bay very carefully knowing of the interest of a number of nations, including the United Kingdom, and knowing that we have responsibilities under the Geneva Convention and because we are Americans, we don't abuse people who are in our care."
Excuse me? At exactly what point was it that the US Government decided that the Geneva Convention applied to people at Guantanamo Bay? Was it while they were leaving or something? If the Geneva Convention applied to them then why was the US Government so insistent at the start of it all that they were 'illegal enemy combatants' and therefore not covered by the Geneva Convention? This White House press briefing says that everyone at Guantanamo will be treated in a manner consistent with the principles of the Third Geneva Convention, but then immediately goes on to say that the Convention only applies to members of the Taliban, not to members of Al Qaeda. Now, of course I'm naturally suspicious, but point two could be read as a qualification of point one, in which case it allows wiggle room for the legal torture of inmates. Why would someone say they were part of a plot to drop anthrax bombs on the Houses of Parliament if American agents were doing nothing more than giving him the Paddington Bear hard stare? If the US administration was being as fair and honourable as Powell claims, what do they gain from letting news circulate that the conditions in the camps are awful and treatment is inhumane? Was this all for the benefit of the toxic Texan, that he doesn't mind the US's stock in world opinion go down just so long as it's seen as being because he's being a hard man with the terrorists?
