Obama Administration to Announce Detainee Prosecutions

It disappoints me terribly to read comments from people who think Gitmo detainees do not deserve fair trial. Let me put in the context of Viet Nam where our soldiers were captured, tortured, some to death and without trial. It did not sit well with us! Regardless of what these Gitmo detainees were caught doing, our own troops on occasion “lose it” and go on to commit terrible crimes. The massacres in Nam are well known. The rapes and civilian shootings in Iraq are all too well publicized and some of them tried in our own courts. It would be unacceptable in any civilized system not to try those cases fairly. To expect it for ourselves, we must do so for others!

So buck-up fellow citizens, let’s be the best American we can be

I am so sick and tired of hearing how these terorists "deserve" to be tried in AMERICAN courts - they are prisoners of war, people! A war that they started and one that they are committed to keep going. How about the nearly 3,000 people that lost their lives on 9/11? What about Daniel Pearl and his right to live? These are dangerous criminals - quit acting as if they are civilized people that were framed . . . they are guilty and do not deserve to set foot in our great country.

I live "TWO MILES" from the proposed "Gitmo North" site in Standish, Michigan. All of you that think they deserved to be on US soil can buy my beautiful home on four acres in the City of Stadish. Oh, that's right, you don't want to live near them either!!

There are some "facts" that those of you who complain about his not sending "reinforcements" quickly enough ignore. First, we do not have the troops to send in that kind of reinforcement quickly, right now. If that is what he decides, the troops will be parceled out over a long space of time like a year or so.

Sending troops in quickly for reinforcement for a policy that has never worked is sending troops to a guaranteed death for a significant number of them.

All respected, authentic foreign policy people, even some Republicans, think he is approaching this just right.

This president cares deeply about the troops and has solemnly pledged to never send them to war unless absolutely necessary. By taking time to find a better way, he is both honoring the troops and his pledge.

Even though Obama has kept many of Bush's policies--the ones Obama criticized as a candidate.

Posted by: ollie | Nov 3, 2009 2:38:14 PM

All perfectly understandable since "Bush left the economy in a virtual freefall" ...

(Do I need a /sarc tag?)

Those detainees have it made at Gitmo compared to the prisons here.
Most Americans don't want it closed.

This is all so that Obama can prove how anti-Bush he is and score a few points.

Even though Obama has kept many of Bush's policies--the ones Obama criticized as a candidate.

Patriot Act
bailouts
rendition
state secrets
indefinite detention
drone attacks

I'm sure I left out a few.

The White House in a panic to meet Obama's deadline.

Put the prisoners anywhere, safety isn't an issue.
The important thing is that Obama saves face.

Tick tock...
Obama has less than three months to close Gitmo or face the music.

Serves him right.
All that grandstanding made Obama look big at the time. But all the broken promises just make him look like a big gas bag.

The Obama administration has botched the entire business of Guantanamo and the detainees beyond comprehension. All so mindless and unnecessary.

"President Obama will be traveling throughout Asia from November 10 through November 20, so it’s entirely possible that the announcements will come when he is abroad."

Obama: Note to self - Make Afghanistan announcement Nov 9. Get out of Dodge Nov 10.

Obama also said he'd close GITMO within a year. Just another broken promise among many others.

Some give all. Prayers for the family and heartfelt gratitude to "Oz":

A British Army explosives specialist who became a legend by risking his life to defuse more than 60 Taliban roadside bombs was killed in Afghanistan during his final mission before he took leave, the Times of London reported Tuesday.

Staff Sergeant Olaf "Oz" Schmid, 30, died instantly Saturday when an improvised explosives device he was trying to disarm blew up.

It was his last job before a planned two-week break, his widow Christina Schmid told the newspaper.

“Oz was a phenomenal husband and loving father who was cruelly murdered on his last day before two weeks off after a relentless five-month tour," she said.