who are the good guys?

I was reading a story on the MSNBC news site regarding the alleged 20th hijacker in the 9/11 plot, and how he may not be brought to trial because of the way that he was interrogated at the Guantanamo base that houses so many suspected terrorists.

You can read the story here.

If you read the article, you will be outraged, (or should be), but the abuses that are documented there are not at the crux of my question. I want to know what we plan to do with the guy if we are not going to try him? Send him home to the mideast? Doubt it. Kill him, (shot while escaping)? Maybe. Or keep him on ice as a plaything for those in our armed and intelligence forces that just cannot keep a sane grip on things? Probably.

I am not going to compare the motivations of our leaders to those of the Third Reich, (though I reserve the right to at a later date), or the scale of these procedings to the Holocaust, (there really is no comparison); but ask yourself, how and why did the Holocaust end. The answer to that is that the regime that established the massive program was defeated and it was dismantled by the victorious powers. What if the war had dragged on, and the so called 'Final Solution to the Jewish question' had accomplished its goal of wiping out the sum total of Jewry within its grasp? Would the 'Final Solution' have been dismantled then by the Nazi's themselves? The answer to that, IMHO, is no. It was, after all other things, a bureaucracy---the most durable entity known to the civilized world--- and when its mission was accomplished, those who derived power and prestige, or even simple gainful employment, would have gone looking for another mission, creating one if necessary.

This is what we are faced with now. The terrorist prison system at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, and the other unnamed locations throughout the world, were designed to outlive the current administration. Their mission will never quite be fulfilled. How long will it be before ordinary American citizens are isolated, forced to wear the equivelent of a cloth Star of David? Who will it be (first)? Democrats? Republicans? (Yes, as nasty as they are, and as good as the Dem's look right now, it could happen). Gun owners? Peaceniks? Truth is, it could be any of us, the cause is simple one errant email or data-mined phone call away. Ever got a junk email offering a look at a barely legal cutie? How about drugs (of any category), from another country? Possibly some form of 'male enhancement'? That could be evidence enough. This has happened before. It needs many things to flourish, but all it needs to get started is a widespread belief that it can't happen here, or, the notion that it is justified because it is vital to our security.

Ben Franklin, who was a pretty astute observer of human nature, noted that "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety". That quote speaks to this issue in that it warns us that we must be better than all others to ultimately triumph. Jesus, also a pretty shrewd operator in his day, is credited with saying “As you have done to the least of these, you have done to me.” If we took a quick poll, I am pretty sure that the general definition of 'terrorist' would rank high on our list of "the least of these". His quote defines a rule of ethics that approaches the same point as Mr. Franklin's, but from a different perspective.

Write to you Senators, your Congressperson and ask, point blank where those prisons are located, (if you get an answer it will be that they don't know or can't say), and what he/she is doing to bring these operations into the open. If you don't know your Senators or Representative, drop me an email, I will help you find out. Keep in mind that as long as these remain an open secret, each and every one of us is guilty in the eyes of the world, friend and foe alike. Why should Iran and North Korea pay one speck of attention to our demands and rhetoric when we are widely known not to be the good guys.

Please stay focused.

Do what is right.