Our Actions in Guantanamo

The Red Cross contends that we are engaged in conduct tantamount to torture in Guantanamo Bay. Of course, this is no surprise to those who have actually concerned themselves with our conduct there. Fact of the matter is, we are hardly a light unto the nations right now, unless you want to count countries struggling with their own human rights problems like the Ukraine.

To be fair, we are only doing this to "outsiders," people who are actively engaged in a war against us (at least purportedly so, this is one of the big problems with conducting a war in this manner, you sweep up a bunch of innocents also and stick them in there, which only makes things worse). This does not, yet, involve use of these methods as a means of suppressing dissent in this country. Here's the rub, how long can we do this stuff, call them legitemate means in the fight against terrorism, before it gets extended to political dissenters in this country. We were already on that somewhat slippery slope with Jose Padilla and Yasser Hamdi when the Supreme Court put a minor skid to it (and Hamdi's been released as a result), but look at the rhetoric of some of the right in this country. They've effectively called millions of people traitors for opposing the president in a time of war. John Ashcroft famously claimed that those who oppose his actions in rounding up suspects give aid and comfort to the terrorists. What is that if not a call for a greater crackdown on political dissent.

Once the tactics have been legitemized, then the only barrier is that we need to extend the reach of targets we use those tactics against. What's first, jailing of political dissenters without trial or charges? Coercive questioning, torture, disappearances. We should not even be crawling near this slipperly slope, and yet, our government has no concern about where they are taking this.