Taliban Issues Statement on Guantanamo Hunger Strikes

By Jeralyn, Section Terror Detainees
Posted on Fri May 03, 2013 at 07:47:30 PM EST
Tags: Guantanamo (all tags)

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The Islamic Emirate of Afhanistan (Taliban) have released an official statement on Guantanamo and the hunger strikes.

The Islamic Emirate, which considers the ongoing atrocity in Guantanamo as a crime against humanity and a historical disgrace for mankind, calls on the entire Islamic world, Islamic societies and respected personalities, all the international human right organizations, media groups and charitable organizations to show their opposition and raise their voices against this unlawful action of the American officials as part of their duty and humanitarian obligation. The Islamic Emirate similarly calls on all writers, journalists and professionals to condemn the actions of America carried out against inmates in the infamous Guantanamo prison for the defense of human dignity and to fulfill their religious and humanitarian obligation.

[More...]

If you don't want to log onto their site (home page in English here), you can read it here. That's where I found the link to the source article and decided to click on it, just to be sure it was the Taliban.

It took me almost 5 minutes to get access to the site. I wonder if log-in attempts are being monitored, and if so, by who? Our government, their government or internet providers? Probably all of them.

Anyway, I'd just point out that Guantanamo is a human rights issue that all Americans should care about and oppose, because it is our Government that is perpetuating the unjust indefinite detention of the detainees without charges or trial. There's no need to align oneself with the Taliban to oppose it.

It's also a waste of money. Via Reuters today, the cost is $900,000 per detainee per year.

86 have been cleared for release. They should be sent home. The others should either be brought to the U.S. and tried, or released.

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Taliban Issues Statement on Guantanamo Hunger Strikes | 10 comments (10 topical)

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Well, if there's anyone who should know... (5.00 / 1) (#1)
by unitron on Fri May 03, 2013 at 08:21:43 PM EST

...about atrocities...

Doesn't mean they aren't right about (5.00 / 1) (#4)
by caseyOR on Sat May 04, 2013 at 12:15:15 AM EST

what we are doing at Guantanamo. The Taliban may be an imperfect messenger, but the message should resonate with all of us.


: You are correct, (none / 0) (#5)
by NYShooter on Sat May 04, 2013 at 04:25:17 AM EST

but, the knee-jerk reaction to the hubristic hypocrisy needed to be vented also, in my humble opinion, of course.

I was scratching my head (none / 0) (#2)
by NYShooter on Fri May 03, 2013 at 08:48:18 PM EST

thinking about how to say it, so thanks for saving me the time, I'll just say....."Ditto."


Not the most persuasive advocate. (none / 0) (#3)
by oculus on Fri May 03, 2013 at 10:56:49 PM EST

The (none / 0) (#6)
by lentinel on Sat May 04, 2013 at 06:19:33 AM EST

simple fact is that the existence of Guanamamo is a stain on the honor of the United States. It amounts to being a torture chamber supported by our government and administered by our military. Everyone in the world knows about it. Even we, last in line for information from our "transparent" government, know about it and what is going on there.

It is a recruiting tool for those who would do us harm. That should be obvious - even to the skeptical - to anyone reading the statement of the Taliban.

In fact, much of what the Taliban is saying amounts to quoting recent utterances from the mouth of President Obama. So, no matter how you slice it, there is no disagreement about the vile nature of this operation. Not from us. Not from them.
Cynically speaking, the more this persists, the worse for us and the better for them. Less friends for us. More recruits for them.

I read that our "watch list" has almost a million people on it.
Imo, unless all of the million were summarily jailed without charge or trial, the watch list can do nothing to help make us safe or discourage suicidal terrorists from harming us.

Closing Guantanamo, doing the right thing in other words, behaving in a manner that resembles American values more than the values of those we claim to detest, could do something to help make us safe.

Actions that create friends instead of enemies is good idea.
At least to me.


: A (5.00 / 1) (#9)
by lentinel on Sat May 04, 2013 at 11:02:18 AM EST

correction to the above comment:
With the public acceptance of drones and surveillance cameras in public places, the warrantless eavesdropping of telephone and email communications, we are all on the watch list.
Everybody.

We've got prisons worse than Gitmo in U.S. (5.00 / 1) (#10)
by TycheSD on Sat May 04, 2013 at 04:56:47 PM EST

The Supermax prisons in Colorado and elsewhere are worse than Gitmo, from what I've heard, and the people kept there are Americans.

: Not (none / 0) (#11)
by lentinel on Sat May 04, 2013 at 07:52:34 PM EST

to minimize the horror of those supermax prisons, but the people incarcerated there have had legal representation, received trials and were convicted of crimes.
In Gitmo, that is not the case.
They have been detained without charge, and without trial for years and years - and with no hope of either on the horizon. That is why they are desperate enough to want to end their lives.

That (none / 0) (#8)
by lentinel on Sat May 04, 2013 at 10:07:34 AM EST

would be a solution, I suppose.

If we can't bring ourselves to be humane, we can just let all of the prisoners kill themselves.

That should go over big with Muslims everywhere.