pgg, if you'll allow me to wax philosophic for a moment, I think our differences really come down to individual rights vs. the good of the group. I wouldn't argue for a minute that some of the folks in Gitmo don't deserve to be there. I don't remember his name, but I remember one detainee's testimony being that as soon as he was freed he would go back to Afganistan and keep fighting the Americans. Sure, we can't let people like that go.
But I also strongly believe we have at least a handful, maybe more, of innocent people in Gitmo that have been locked up for going on 4-5 years now. To me it's unconscionable that we're detaining these people, even if their sacrifice is keeping others safe. So, I side with individual rights on this one. I think many of the military folk here (not sure if you're included or not), would side with the group good. They've lived and fought and seen friends die in situations where the individual may need to be sacrificed to help the group good, and even further, they were willing to be that individual if necessary. I have huge respect for that because it's a situation I will probably never be in, and it's a situation where I couldn't truly tell you if I'd be willing to be that individual. I understand as best I can where they're coming from, and I respect it. However, I won't agree with that viewpoint when it's used to unfairly detain people and otherwise remove their rights. That's what I think is happening to a unknown extent at Gitmo, and that's why I'm largely against the detentions there.
So, anyhow, it's been fun chatting. Feel free to respond with any thoughts.
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