Send me back to Paris Island, San Antonio, Great Lakes, or Fort
Benning —– yeah, we’ll get through basic same as we did 40 years
ago. Maybe a bit slower and more grey than brown or black – but
we can sure pull the trigger like we did so long ago.

Wow. I had no idea Stockholm Syndrome happened to draftees, too.

I am a recently honorably discharged volunteer soldier with two deployments during the GWOT, so I guess you’re doubly cool with me criticizing you, right?

OK, let’s get right to it: I don’t agree with you! Now, I know that I’m either “with you, or against you,” but I have what I consider logical reasons for my views.

First, some of these detainees probably are bad guys. However, NONE OF US knows, since the evidence against them is secret and they were never tried in court or tribunal! I’m all for the harshest penalties, but only AFTER these people are tried and *convicted* in a FAIR manner. Just because W. says “they’re bad evil-doers” isn’t good enough for me. He and his administration have been wrong on more things than I can count! Also, consider the military officers (at least 7 that I know of) who have resigned due to ethical concerns, rather than participate in a rigged “trial.” Now THAT’s honor!

It’s also foolish for you to think that people who haven’t served in the military have no right to criticize the government’s actions. Last time I checked, they live under the same government as we former soldiers, so, while I may not like what some of them have to say, they have every right to say it.

I guess you are correct about one thing, “when you’re American by birth or naturalization [that] comes [with] responsibilities…” One of those is to speak up and criticize our government when it oversteps its bounds and tramples The Constitution! I hope you’re not foolish enough to think that WE could never be labeled “terrorists” when our political beliefs don’t jibe with whoever is in charge…

I don’t know about you, but when I swore the oath, it was to defend The Constitution and the freedom of EVERY American – not just those with prior service or whom I happen to agree with! It can be a thankless job, but hey, we volunteered for it!

In closing, I agree that we should do our part for America. That isn’t limited to taking up arms and blindly fighting or “pulling triggers,” as you so eloquently put it. By discussing the Bush Administration’s assaults on liberty (and there have been many, and not just against accused terrorists – ever hear of the PATRIOT Act?), we ARE doing our part for America – remaining vigilant over the Freedom that God and our military has provided us!

Let’s have it with the “traitor/terrorist” comments!

The USA hasn’t have the DRAFT since the 1960′s — how many of
you 20′s, 30′s and 40′s year olds would change your minds if you
received the “greetings” notice we got in the 60′s? Would you
head to Canada or maybe France now?

YOU KIDS HAVEN’T EARNED THE RIGHT TO CRITICIZE – PUT ON A
PAIR OF COMBAT BOOTS AND SERVE YOUR COUNTRY – ARMY,
USMC, NAVY, OR AIR FORCE —–YOU HAVE NOT EARNED THE
RIGHT TO COMPLAIN WHEN YOU HAVEN’T PAID YOUR DUES!!!

Yes, when you’re American by birth or naturalization comes responsibilities – and us 50 and 60 year olds are past our prime for fighting, but if called, I’d bet more of us would respond than
you young pants-down below your ass-loafers would.

Send me back to Paris Island, San Antonio, Great Lakes, or Fort
Benning —– yeah, we’ll get through basic same as we did 40 years
ago. Maybe a bit slower and more grey than brown or black – but
we can sure pull the trigger like we did so long ago.

This country was built on its MEN (AND WOMEN) protecting our
freedom — NOT hiding and waiting for someone else to do YOUR job!

DO YOUR PART FOR AMERICA!

1. Release them with the risk that they will seek vengence.
2. Leave them there forever while everyone in the world holds it against us.
3. Kill them, which everyone in the world will hold against us.

These options all pretty much suck. If we (the gov’t) actually took these things into consideration, this wouldn’t be a problem. At the very least these people are owed their freedom. What they do after that…

It’s not really fair to say what a person thinks or feels without any input from them. It’s just as likely that they want to get home to their family and put all this behind them. We just don’t know.

In my opinion January 23rd can’t come quick enough.

“The state” won’t be buying him a new one. You will.

And we can’t easily release them into the U.S., because even if they weren’t our enemies before they were detained and likely tortured, they sure as hell probably consider us an enemy now.

I think it’s fair to say we are their enemy, now. I hate the erosion of liberty and unjustified attacks on citizens and foreigners that George W.’s administration has escalated. But if I was taken from my wife and kid to be occasionally tortured for 7 years, I’d come out fighting, immediately.

That’s exactly why we should release them into the U.S. It’s the height of cowardice to lock someone in a cage for no reason for several years, occasionally torture him, and then demand that he be released on the other side of the planet where he can’t give us any trouble. They should be released in the U.S. if they want, with citizenship and a fat pile of cash and a lifetime exemption from taxes.

When the state fucks up and wrecks some guy’s life, the least it can do is buy him a new one.

Then we should optimize the airspace above Manhattan by changing the flight patterns to go directly over it!

When we last saw Saber in November, he was in his sixth month of solitary confinement. Since August, he has seen us, his legal team, twice and a psychiatrist on three brief occasions. For a few minutes each day, he sees the camp guards who bring his meals. He has had no other human contact. The glaring lights in his cell are on 24 hours a day, seven days a week. When we left the cell, we could hear Saber shouting — brief, truncated cries. We could not understand what he was saying.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/11/20/guantanamo/index.html

I wonder if, and when, people will ever fully accept what was done in our names. Or if people will ever realize that if we applied the same standards to the USA that we applied to Japanese or Germanan officers, politicians, etc after WWII how much trouble we’d be in.