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Made in us
Fireknife Shas'el






Richmond, VA

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/21/guantanamo.hearings/index.html

There you go Republicans/conservatives, the President's finally done something you can attempt to crticize him for, delaying 21 War Crimes trials until May

 
   
Made in us
5th God of Chaos! (Yea'rly!)




The Great State of Texas

Why try 'em when accidents can happen. 21 accidents, thats bus that fell in the gulf. No problem

-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
 
   
Made in gb
Grumpy Longbeard






Frazz: What happened to innocent untill proven guilty?

Opinions are like arseholes. Everyone's got one and they all stink. 
   
Made in jp
[MOD]
Anti-piracy Officer






Somewhere in south-central England.

Some of the people in Guantanamo got swept up by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some of the others must surely be guilty. The same thing used to happen in the Vietnam war.

One of the main points about democratic free societies is the rule of law, innocent until proved guilty beyond reasonable doubt by evidence brought in front of a jury.

My worry about Guantanamo and the associated issues of 'extraordinary rendition' and detention without trial is that western democracies cannot hold their heads high in front of the rest of the undemocratic world while carrying on such unjust practices.

If we want to convince people (the general population) of non-democratic countries that our system is better, we should be seen to operate it properly and not abandon it for a temporary convenience.

Of course, every nation has episodes like this. The UK's special internment of suspected IRA during the 70s and 80s is an example.


I'm writing a load of fiction. My latest story starts here... This is the index of all the stories...

We're not very big on official rules. Rules lead to people looking for loopholes. What's here is about it. 
   
Made in us
5th God of Chaos! (Yea'rly!)




The Great State of Texas

Greebynog wrote:Frazz: What happened to innocent untill proven guilty?


1. that applies to US citizens.
2. That applies to crimes.


He's not a citizen and he didn't commit a crime. He committed genocide and war. He's not wearing a uniform and thus has no rights under the Geneva Convention. As his compatriots routinely used screwdrivers and saws on people, and cut other people's heads off on TV, then he should be treated as they treated others. Frankly, his only right is a right to a bullet to the head after we've finished interrogating him.

In the immortal words of the Hobbit "Stew 'em, baste 'em, put 'em in a pot!"

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2009/01/21 19:24:27


-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
 
   
Made in us
Da Head Honcho Boss Grot





Minnesota

This seems like rather circular logic.

They don't deserve a trial because of the horrible things they did. How do we know they actually did these horrible things? We don't, they haven't been tried.

That's the point of a trial, it's to see if they actually committed these crimes.

Rapists and murders in America don't deserve anything more than terrorists, they are tried because that's the way they are found out to be rapists and murderers.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2009/01/21 20:52:13


Anuvver fing - when they do sumfing, they try to make it look like somfink else to confuse everybody. When one of them wants to lord it over the uvvers, 'e says "I'm very speshul so'z you gotta worship me", or "I know summink wot you lot don't know, so yer better lissen good". Da funny fing is, arf of 'em believe it and da over arf don't, so 'e 'as to hit 'em all anyway or run fer it.
 
   
Made in us
Dwarf High King with New Book of Grudges




United States

Frazzled wrote:
1. that applies to US citizens.
2. That applies to crimes.


He's not a citizen and he didn't commit a crime. He committed genocide and war.


He can't commit war, he is not a state. He also didn't commit genocide. Genocide is the systematic destruction of a cultural group, and the WTC was not a cultural group.

Frazzled wrote:
He's not wearing a uniform and thus has no rights under the Geneva Convention.


Which does not absolve us of the need to produce a legal framework that he would have rights under. At least if we are to actually going to hold to the notion that our values are universal.

Frazzled wrote:
As his compatriots routinely used screwdrivers and saws on people, and cut other people's heads off on TV, then he should be treated as they treated others. Frankly, his only right is a right to a bullet to the head after we've finished interrogating him.


Eye for an eye, eh? I think perhaps the system of justice you're looking for was thought up by this guy named Hammurabi. He wasn't an American though, so I don't think it applies here.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2009/01/21 20:56:18


Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh. 
   
Made in us
5th God of Chaos! (Yea'rly!)




The Great State of Texas

These aren't criminals. In this specific case he was specifically targetted as an Al Qaeda operative. He's admitted to it.

Again, reserve concepts of guilt, crimes, and rights where they belong, with criminal trials. This is not a crime. This is not some mugger writ large. if you are going to charge with any sort of crime it has to be a war crime-genocide. Otherwise smear him on the road.

-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
 
   
Made in us
Hangin' with Gork & Mork






I didn't even think we gave these guys trials. I though we just locked them up indefinitely.

Amidst the mists and coldest frosts he thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts.
 
   
Made in us
5th God of Chaos! (Yea'rly!)




The Great State of Texas

At least the dude we're talking about.

-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
 
   
Made in gb
Grumpy Longbeard






You have to look at what conditions confessions were extracted under. I don't know about this guy, maybe he just fessed up straight away because he's a loon and loves killing; but I'm certain that any confession gained under torture is worth bugger all. I'll confess to whatever the hell you want me to after you bring out the lube and the rubber gloves...

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2009/01/21 21:14:10


Opinions are like arseholes. Everyone's got one and they all stink. 
   
Made in us
Ork Boy Hangin' off a Trukk




Olympia, Waaaghshinton

Wow, frazz, for once I agree with you!

I, for one, and perfectly happy with letting these people die horrible deaths!

Yes, maybe quite a few (by our government's own admission) are innocent and were prosecuted unjustly, but hey, god will sort them out!

And why should they get due process? They are all terrorists! Every one! Even those who haven't been prosecuted!


...


You know, for someone who seems to be so wary of too much Governmental power when it could be used to potentially help someone, you seem pretty comfortable with the government having the power of life and death over us.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2009/01/21 21:15:00


 
   
Made in us
5th God of Chaos! (Yea'rly!)




The Great State of Texas

Not us.

Them.

EDIT: I should say I'm all in favor of a military tribunal to determine if these characters
1) Are US citizens?
2) captured on the battlefield or in the cmopany of known terrorists-aka minimum standard.

If they aren't US citizens and were captured working with AlQaeda/on the bottom actively fighting US soldiers/caught ina raid planning or abbetting terrorists-then send them to dirt town nap time.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2009/01/21 21:26:24


-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
 
   
Made in us
The Last Chancer Who Survived





Norristown, PA

Death is too good for those guys. Hell, they probably want to die. I'd rather see them dumped in a general population in a big prison, and let em get butt-raped by big fat mexicans and skinheads every night.

 
   
Made in gb
Monster-Slaying Daemonhunter







Ah yes, the place whre the military act as the jury, judges, prosecutors, the defense counsel, interrogators executioners.

That's fairness... that's comedy.

   
Made in us
Dwarf High King with New Book of Grudges




United States

There must be a legal framework for this type of matter if we are to hold to the notion that the law is more than simple morality.

Is it a form of global governance? Surely. Is that a bad thing? I don't think so.

Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh. 
   
Made in us
Ork Boy Hangin' off a Trukk




Olympia, Waaaghshinton

Frazzled wrote:
If they aren't US citizens and were captured working with AlQaeda/on the bottom actively fighting US soldiers/caught ina raid planning or abbetting terrorists-then send them to dirt town nap time.



Except they weren't all found working with AlQaeda or actively fighting against the us. Many were rounded up as suspects after an attack. One of my marine buddies told me of a time when he (along with the rest of his unit) were instructed to round up everyone named "Muhammad" in one small town they were in. Now, if you know anything about names, you'd realize that "Muhammad" is the most common name in the world. This, compounded with the fact that no one in his unit spoke Arabic, they pretty much went door to door grabbing everyone named Muhammad; what else are they going to do?

I'm not saying that this is par for the course, but mistake like that happen regularly enough to warrant giving everyone imprisoned their fair shake at proving their innocence, or hell, releasing them if they have not been charged with anything.


   
Made in de
[DCM]
The Main Man






Beast Coast

Except for some of the guys who have actually committed war crimes (like the guys who have been charged in connection with 9/11, most of these guys we are holding shouldn't be charged with anything.

If they haven't committed war crimes, but we picked them up in combat or otherwise operating against our forces, then they are effectively prisoners of war, (if not officially, since there's some disagreement about the way the Geneva convention applies or doesn't to non-uniformed fighters). If they haven't committed war crimes, you don't charge POWs with anything. You hold them until the fighting is over, so they can't go back and fight against you again (like many of the guys we have released from Guantanamo have already done.)

For most of these guys "innocent until proven guilty" has absolutely nothing to do with it, and shouldn't. Unless someone is suggesting we should just release all the fighters we capture while fighting against us.

Honestly, the idea of charging and trying foreign POWs who haven't committed war crimes is as ridiculous as it is pointless. We took lots of German and Japanese prisoners during WWII, and besides the war criminals, we didn't charge them with anything. It's not about being innocent or guilty, it's about keeping enemies off of the battlefield without just killing everyone we capture (Something I hope no one is advocating).

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2009/01/21 22:22:36


   
Made in us
5th God of Chaos! (Yea'rly!)




The Great State of Texas

Exactly.

-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
 
   
Made in si
Foxy Wildborne







Hey Frazzled, if I didn't know any better I'd think you're advocating a very... "communist" approach to dealing with enemies, real or perceived. Of course it's all ok if the US does it.

The old meta is dead and the new meta struggles to be born. Now is the time of munchkins. 
   
Made in us
5th God of Chaos! (Yea'rly!)




The Great State of Texas

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/01/21/families-outraged-obama-suspend-guantanamo-war-crimes-trials/

9/11 Families Outraged by Obama Call to Suspend Guantanamo War Crimes Trials
Family members of people killed on September 11, 2001, and in other terror attacks say they are outraged by President Obama's draft order calling for the suspension of war crimes trials of prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay.

"To me it's beyond comprehension that they would take the side of the terrorists," said Peter Gadiel, whose son, James, was killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11. "Many of these people have been released and been right back killing, right back at their terrorist work again."

Obama's request on the first full day of his presidency came as a draft order was being prepared ordering the closing of the Guantanamo prison within a year. A judge responded by halting the case against a Canadian detainee accused of killing an American soldier in Afghanistan, issuing a 120-day continuance in the case.

Click here for photos.

"I see no reason why we should delay these proceedings. Let justice be served," said Jefferson Crowther, whose 24-year-old son, Welles, was killed in the Twin Towers after he saved the lives of several others.

Critics blasted Obama's decision, which they said would delay justice in cases that have already been waiting for the better part of a decade.

"There is no need to suspend [the military tribunals]. There is no reason why [Obama] can't conduct a concurrent review at the same time that the military commission process is moving forward to render justice for the terrorists that have murdered thousands of people," said former Cmdr. Kirk Lippold, who lost 17 sailors during a suicide bombing attack on the USS Cole in 2000. A suspect in the case is being held at Guantanamo.

"It demeans their deaths because we seem to be more concerned with the rights of detainees than we are with the justice that is being denied to my sailors that were killed," Lippold told FOXNews.com.

Obama's request may mark the end of the system used by the Bush administration to try terror suspects. War crimes charges against 21 men are pending at Guantanamo, though the detainees may have to be moved to America or extradited, depending on the administration's plans for them.

The Obama administration is calling for a systematic review of each detainee's case to determine who can be released and who cannot. "It is in the interests of the United States to review whether and how such individuals can and should be prosecuted," says the draft order released on Wednesday.

Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said he would take the detainees in his own district, which lies just a few miles from the field near Shanksville, Pa., where United Flight 93 crashed after it was hijacked by terrorists on Sept. 11, killing all 44 people aboard.

"Sure, I'd take them. They're no more dangerous in my district than in Guantanamo," Murtha said, calling the Guantanamo prison a "sore in the United States' moral standards."

"There's no reason not to put them in prisons in the United States and handle them the way they would handle any other prisoners."

But some 9/11 families said they were concerned that if the trials were moved to criminal courts in the U.S., the proceedings would put civilians at risk.

"The safest place to have these trials is Guantanamo Bay. If they were to move to the homeland it would endanger all of us," said Lorraine Arias Believeau of New Jersey, whose brother, Adam, was killed on 9/11.

But human rights groups welcomed the president's draft order, calling it an important first step for his administration.

"It is a major positive step in the right direction," said Jamil Dakwar, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union who observed pretrial hearings at Guantanamo this week.

If transferred to U.S. courts, some of the detainees might be freed because of the aggressive interrogation techniques used against them. Mohammed al-Qahtani, the alleged "20th hijacker" in the Sept. 11 plot, was interrogated so severely at Guantanamo Bay that Bush administration officials said he was tortured and did not refer his case for prosecution.

Some of the accused terrorists, meanwhile, were impatient to have their trials proceed.

"We should continue so we don't go backward, we go forward," Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks told the judge in their case. He is among five detainees accused in the attacks who have asked to be given the death penalty, believing they will become martyrs if they are executed.

Lippold, who helped determine detainee policy for the Joint Chiefs of Staff as a strategic planner, said he feels he has a large investment "in making sure that these guys do not return to the fight, that they do not kill again."

He said moving the cases to civilian courts was primarily a political act and could make it difficult to proceed with cases without compromising vital intelligence sources and methods.

"The whole issue of detainees has become so politically charged that people forget that Americans lives are at stake," he told FOXNews.com.

Crowther, a volunteer fireman for decades, said he does not care where the trials take place, but he wants to see more action from his government.

"I'm constantly doing my part -- I want my government to do its part for me. I want those people who participated in my son's death and the death of some 3,000 others, I want to see them punished, if found guilty, in a court of law," he said.

If the cases don't go to trial, Crowther said, "many, many families are going to be very upset."

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2009/01/21 22:33:22


-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
 
   
Made in de
[DCM]
The Main Man






Beast Coast

dogma wrote:There must be a legal framework for this type of matter if we are to hold to the notion that the law is more than simple morality.



Does anyone actually believe this? That the law is more than just a sort of codified morality, that is?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2009/01/21 22:31:39


   
Made in us
Da Head Honcho Boss Grot





Minnesota

blackfang wrote:Hey Frazzled, if I didn't know any better I'd think you're advocating a very... "communist" approach to dealing with enemies, real or perceived. Of course it's all ok if the US does it.


What would be the capitalistic way handling it?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2009/01/21 22:32:29


Anuvver fing - when they do sumfing, they try to make it look like somfink else to confuse everybody. When one of them wants to lord it over the uvvers, 'e says "I'm very speshul so'z you gotta worship me", or "I know summink wot you lot don't know, so yer better lissen good". Da funny fing is, arf of 'em believe it and da over arf don't, so 'e 'as to hit 'em all anyway or run fer it.
 
   
Made in us
5th God of Chaos! (Yea'rly!)




The Great State of Texas

lord_blackfang wrote:Hey Frazzled, if I didn't know any better I'd think you're advocating a very... "communist" approach to dealing with enemies, real or perceived. Of course it's all ok if the US does it.


Don't insult me with your commie pinko dispersions. My shirt is Chavez red today baby.

Just following the Zulu mantra "never leave an enemy behind."

As noted they aren't criminals. They are either terrorists or POWs. POWs get out when the war is over. Terrorists don't get out.

-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
 
   
Made in us
Ork Boy Hangin' off a Trukk




Olympia, Waaaghshinton

Frazzled wrote:
Don't insult me with your commie pinko dispersions. My shirt is Chavez red today baby.


Wow.

It must be fun living in a black and white world.
   
Made in de
[DCM]
The Main Man






Beast Coast

Has anyone besides Frazzled actually read my post? I mean seriously. I feel like the issue is already being skirted.

   
Made in us
5th God of Chaos! (Yea'rly!)




The Great State of Texas

Annn...wrong answer ork avatar boy but what would I expect from a colorblind greenskin.

Chavez red! I'm wearing a glorious red Chavez shirt today. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Viva me?

-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
 
   
Made in us
Dwarf High King with New Book of Grudges




United States

Hordini wrote:
Honestly, the idea of charging and trying foreign POWs who haven't committed war crimes is as ridiculous as it is pointless. We took lots of German and Japanese prisoners during WWII, and besides the war criminals, we didn't charge them with anything. It's not about being innocent or guilty, it's about keeping enemies off of the battlefield without just killing everyone we capture (Something I hope no one is advocating).


But when the battlefield is the globe, and the war is against an emotion, when does this battle end?

Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh. 
   
Made in si
Foxy Wildborne







Frazzled wrote:
As noted they aren't criminals. They are either terrorists or POWs. POWs get out when the war is over. Terrorists don't get out.


While it appalls me that these people have been put in a legal limbo through slowed semantics, it's even more worrying that some people don't even acknowledge the fact that some of these prisoners could be innocent. Or even worse, don't care. Kill them all, let God sort them out? Killing random strangers isn't justice, it isn't even retaliation. It's just dumb. Not to mention horribly morally wrong. But only if the commies do it.

The old meta is dead and the new meta struggles to be born. Now is the time of munchkins. 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut



Brotherhood of Blood

A qoute from fox news is very reliable. I harken back to the presidential debates when they had the polls something like Obama 20% McCain 80%. Fair and balanced just went out the window along with the qoute's from fox news sources.
   
 
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