Comments on: White House Repeats Pentagon Lies About Guantánamo “Recidivists” http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2010/02/08/white-house-repeats-pentagon-lies-about-guantanamo-recidivists/ Investigative journalist, author, filmmaker and Guantanamo expert Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:40:36 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Andy Worthington Discusses WikiLeaks and Guantánamo with Linda … » WeNewsIt http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2010/02/08/white-house-repeats-pentagon-lies-about-guantanamo-recidivists/comment-page-1/#comment-78983 Andy Worthington Discusses WikiLeaks and Guantánamo with Linda … » WeNewsIt Mon, 30 May 2011 01:54:11 +0000 http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/?p=7058#comment-78983 [...] recidivism story, Guantánamo Recidivism: Mainstream Media Parrot Pentagon Propaganda (Again), White House Repeats Pentagon Lies About Guantánamo “Recidivists”, Guantánamo: A Dismal Week for America and Countering Pentagon Propaganda About Prisoners Released [...] [...] recidivism story, Guantánamo Recidivism: Mainstream Media Parrot Pentagon Propaganda (Again), White House Repeats Pentagon Lies About Guantánamo “Recidivists”, Guantánamo: A Dismal Week for America and Countering Pentagon Propaganda About Prisoners Released [...]

]]> By: Andy Worthington http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2010/02/08/white-house-repeats-pentagon-lies-about-guantanamo-recidivists/comment-page-1/#comment-54538 Andy Worthington Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:24:15 +0000 http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/?p=7058#comment-54538 Thanks, Will. An excellent analysis, as usual. You have the pulse of your country, although no one wants to listen to the doctor. Much better to have idiots who shoot wolves from planes or who shoot their friends in the face, to advocate waterboarding a man who is prepared to tell everything he knows without anyone laying a finger on him, and to maintain, with straight-faced cowardice, that five other tortured men are, for the first time in history, too dangerous to prosecute in the place where they committed their crimes, than to have to tackle the truth about the nation's bankruptcy, its addiction to violence, and the dismal NIMBYist cowardice of grown men elected to office, who, despite regarding themselves as tough guys, are a laughing stock around the world. Thanks, Will. An excellent analysis, as usual. You have the pulse of your country, although no one wants to listen to the doctor. Much better to have idiots who shoot wolves from planes or who shoot their friends in the face, to advocate waterboarding a man who is prepared to tell everything he knows without anyone laying a finger on him, and to maintain, with straight-faced cowardice, that five other tortured men are, for the first time in history, too dangerous to prosecute in the place where they committed their crimes, than to have to tackle the truth about the nation’s bankruptcy, its addiction to violence, and the dismal NIMBYist cowardice of grown men elected to office, who, despite regarding themselves as tough guys, are a laughing stock around the world.

]]> By: Will Shirley http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2010/02/08/white-house-repeats-pentagon-lies-about-guantanamo-recidivists/comment-page-1/#comment-54537 Will Shirley Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:01:29 +0000 http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/?p=7058#comment-54537 In our Patriot Acts we have agreed to become a totalitarian state, giving our selected President absolute power over life and death towards all people of the world, not just Americans and their prisoners. We don't talk about it much now but I think somebody should consider the concept that if these laws remain in place, replacing the Constitution and Bill of Rights, we are bound to get not a benevolent dictator like Obama, but a Stalin-like figure, maybe Palin, maybe even Cheney. Both are deranged and have expressed a fondness for violence. Palin likes to shoot wolves from a helicopter, Cheney likes to shoot old men in the face. It's funny how history works to explain the past while actually living that time was foggy and unclear. Once the realities are scraped from the lies we see that since the reign of Nixon our nation has been sold off bit by bit. Our rights and freedoms are gone and very few seem to think about the implications, saying tough times call for tough actions. I keep thinking of the myth about the frogs and their King Log. We think we're doing fine, maybe bankrupted but otherwise as long as our avowed enemies, the communist Chinese, continue to finance our addiction to violence we can get along. Then one day we wake up and most of the banks have no money, no jobs are being created, wars have left us with tens of thousands of brain injured individuals who aren't getting good health care and the nation is awash with guns. I just don't see how this can clean up in my lifetime, especially since we seem to be content to allow these thugs to run our country into the ground while stripping us of any real wealth we may have been able to cling to. Democrats, Republicans, Independents... none have a grasp of sociology or history. A collapsing Empire can go slowly, like England, or quickly like the Soviets. The faster it dissolves the more violent the changeover. Like a dying man mumbling "I'm okay, I just can't feel my legs...my arms...my chest..." Americans are turning their faces from any form of truth. They can't take it and that need to ignore the obvious is so great that they will believe that 75 out of 25 prisoners are evil geniuses, or dollars are wealth, or numbers on a paper are valuable commodities. The fate of this country is sealed, although it may take awhile for the world to say it aloud. We need to stop looking for a cure for our illness and start looking for a nice cemetery plot. The only people with the legal right to fix the situation are the very ones who put us on the road to ruin. I see no reason to expect them to suddenly become sane and get to the work at hand. The one or two in Congress who are still sane are helpless to do anything, obviously. I think the best use of our time is to design a government for the 21st century, a sustainable economy, a rational foreign policy, an educational system that will educate the people and a clear understanding that people have a right to a home and decent health care. We do NOT have a right to point missiles at people we've never even met. In our Patriot Acts we have agreed to become a totalitarian state, giving our selected President absolute power over life and death towards all people of the world, not just Americans and their prisoners. We don’t talk about it much now but I think somebody should consider the concept that if these laws remain in place, replacing the Constitution and Bill of Rights, we are bound to get not a benevolent dictator like Obama, but a Stalin-like figure, maybe Palin, maybe even Cheney. Both are deranged and have expressed a fondness for violence. Palin likes to shoot wolves from a helicopter, Cheney likes to shoot old men in the face. It’s funny how history works to explain the past while actually living that time was foggy and unclear. Once the realities are scraped from the lies we see that since the reign of Nixon our nation has been sold off bit by bit. Our rights and freedoms are gone and very few seem to think about the implications, saying tough times call for tough actions. I keep thinking of the myth about the frogs and their King Log. We think we’re doing fine, maybe bankrupted but otherwise as long as our avowed enemies, the communist Chinese, continue to finance our addiction to violence we can get along. Then one day we wake up and most of the banks have no money, no jobs are being created, wars have left us with tens of thousands of brain injured individuals who aren’t getting good health care and the nation is awash with guns. I just don’t see how this can clean up in my lifetime, especially since we seem to be content to allow these thugs to run our country into the ground while stripping us of any real wealth we may have been able to cling to. Democrats, Republicans, Independents… none have a grasp of sociology or history. A collapsing Empire can go slowly, like England, or quickly like the Soviets. The faster it dissolves the more violent the changeover. Like a dying man mumbling “I’m okay, I just can’t feel my legs…my arms…my chest…” Americans are turning their faces from any form of truth. They can’t take it and that need to ignore the obvious is so great that they will believe that 75 out of 25 prisoners are evil geniuses, or dollars are wealth, or numbers on a paper are valuable commodities.

The fate of this country is sealed, although it may take awhile for the world to say it aloud. We need to stop looking for a cure for our illness and start looking for a nice cemetery plot. The only people with the legal right to fix the situation are the very ones who put us on the road to ruin. I see no reason to expect them to suddenly become sane and get to the work at hand. The one or two in Congress who are still sane are helpless to do anything, obviously. I think the best use of our time is to design a government for the 21st century, a sustainable economy, a rational foreign policy, an educational system that will educate the people and a clear understanding that people have a right to a home and decent health care. We do NOT have a right to point missiles at people we’ve never even met.

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