On Sat, 08 Jan 2005 16:49:07 -0500, nobody wrote:

Malcolm Weir wrote:
.In the US classified info is supposed to based upon
damage to the national security to the US.

Gantanamo has ZERO to do with national security.

False. *You* may happen to believe that everyone there is innocent,
but I don't.

I *also* don't believe that everyone there is guilty.

Some are one, some are the other.

They took random afghans from the street and sent them there to be detailed
without charge,

Kinda true, but not correct anymore.

without any evidence,

Categorically false.

without due legal process.

Kinda true, but not any more.

When your country is being invaded by foreigners (whether the invasion is
sanctioned by UN or not), citizens have a right to fight back.

Right? Maybe.

But that's not what those detained at Guantanamo are largely charged
with. Only a complete moron would conclude that only 600 or so people
fought back!

Heck, the USA is the last country that should complain about citizens bearing
arms since this is written into their constitution for that very reason.

I agree. So what?

So just because some citizens had guns and fought the invading force doesn't
make them terrorists.

True. However, some terrorists *also* had guns and *also* fought the
Northern Alliance (who weren't, in fact, an invading force, but let's
not quibble over facts like that).

It's undeniable that there were lots and lots of terrorists/terrorist
supporters in Afghanistan.

You can be assured that the serious al qaeda folks had long ago fled
Afghanistan since they knew that the country would be invaded by western nations.

Maybe. But maybe not.

Gantanamo was purely a PR exercise by the Bush regime directed towards
domestic media consumption and part of their scare tactics and to show how
Bush had captured "terrorists".

Get off your sad little conspiracy horse...

Americans consumed this because they are so gullible. The rest of the world
seen Gantanamo as a horrible human righst violations by an authoritarion
police state regime.

Compare and contrast Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, with HMP Belmarsh. (e.g.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4100481.stm)

Malc.