ebrown_p wrote:Scrat you have still avoided my question,
I merely found other lines of discussion more interesting than yours. But, since you insist...
ebrown_p wrote:Under what circumstances do you say the US government have the right to imprison a human being for 18 months without a charge or legal counsel.
Under the specific circumstances under which the detainees find themselves detained, for one. (I'd outline the specifics, but you know them and don't seem to care what they are anyway.)
ebrown_p wrote:Are you saying that the US has the right to do this at will?
Yes. Likewise, if an un-uniformed American citizen fighting on the side of the US were captured during combat in Afghanistan, I believe the Taliban would have no obligation regarding his treatment under the Geneva Convention. He gave that protection up when he fought while not wearing a uniform of his country's armed forces.
ebrown_p wrote:Are you saying that the US has no obligation to prove guilt of a crime before they do this.
Yes, that is what I am saying. These men are not being held because they are criminals.
This is not about crime. The context here is warfare. Can you not recognize that distinction???
ebrown_p wrote:And incidently, I never said that the Afgan detainee have the same rights as an American teenager.
Yet you continue to pretend they are entitled to be treated as we would treat a citizen arrested for a crime on American soil.
ebrown_p wrote:I am only saying that being imprisoned for 18 months is a big deal.
Let's hope that fact deters others from following in their footsteps.
ebrown_p wrote:Imprisoning human beings without proving that they are guilty of a crime is to me unthinkable.
Your
arguments are unthinkable.
ebrown_p wrote:Again, how would you feel being imprisoned away from your framily for a year and a half?
You simply can't stop yourself from pretending these people were just minding their own business when we arbitrarily decided to throw them into cages, can you? (And you wonder why I wasn't bothering to answer your questions.)
ebrown_p wrote:Would the fact that you were fed make you feel any less wronged?
I am frankly unconcerned as to whether or not the detainees feel "wronged". I suspect that those who died on 9/11 felt wronged. I am far more concerned with ensuring that American citizens are never wronged by the terrorists being held in relative comfort at Camp Xray.
If I had knowledge that the detainees were being mistreated, I would object to it. They are not. They are being treated far better than they deserve, far better than is required under international law.