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Back to the war...
Jan. 28th, 2002 12:00 pmHad a pretty restful and productive weekend. Figured out how to install and configure GnuPG, a PGP replacement for OS X, and use it with OS X's built-in Mail application. Also sorted out a database corruption problem with the latest beta of Palm Desktop. I'd forgotten how much of a pain it was configuring a UNIX app using a command line. But I suppose I'm just being lazy and spoilt after years of using GUIs - after a couple of glances at the man page I managed to recover some of those lost skillz I had back in the 1980s and sort the little bugger out.
Also, in case anyone missed it, do observe a moment of silence for the anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire on January 27, 1967 that killed astronauts Gus Grissom, Roger Chaffee and Ed White. In a different world, Gus (one of the original Mercury Seven) may have been the first man on the Moon instead of Neil Armstrong, that is, if Deke Slayton had had his way. They reminded us just how dangerous the dream can be, but that the dream can still be worth it the cost.
I realize, also, that I haven't ranted about Dubya recently, so I'm going to correct that right now. By now, most of you should be aware of the Afghan detainees in Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The big flap now, apparently, is whether or not they should be classified as prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention. Various countries and civil rights proponents have been making grumbling noises, and even Powell seems to be of the opinion that there should be some sort of hearing at least to determine their status, even if at the end that hearing concludes they are not to be accorded POW status.
The White House argues that they are not POWs because the attacks were on civilians and not military targets. They also say they don't want to accord them such status because the Geneva Convention requires only that POWs give their name, rank and serial number. This of course, would mean that the American authorities can't interrogate them. The White House claims this would deny them "flexibility" in questioning - presumably that means it's time for the rubber hoses and telephone books.
Now, it may or may not surprise you to know that I agree with the White House on this score, that the detainees are not POWs. That doesn't mean that they aren't entitled to some standards of care. I mean, even US prison experts have said that the way the detainees are being treated don't even measure up to US prison standards, which sounds pretty dire, if you ask me. Granted, at this point what they are - POWs or criminals or some odd third category - is unclear, but that doesn't justify animal-cage-like conditions.
However, inhumane treatment of the detainees aside, this shows how remarkably two-faced the Dubya administration is on the issue of whether or not there truly is a war. For months now they've been declaring to the world there is a war, there is a war - they've been assuming powers on the justification of having a war on, they've been conducting a military campaign as though there's a war on - every media outlet is calling it the war on terrorism. You get the picture, there's this whole war thing going on here. Even though Congress has not declared there is war. You know, that minor annoying technicality called the Constitution.
And now, the White House turns around and tells us, hey, these guys who were involved in the war - they aren't prisoners of war because they targeted civilians, not military targets, which is precisely the reason I've been saying all along that there hasn't been a fucking war. There is no war because there is no declared state of war, there is no enemy state that has declared war, there has only been acts of terrorism. This is why the Dubya administration loses credibility day after day. They can't even keep their own stories straight. If they had, from day one, declared this was a police action, fine. They could have stuck to their guns, and be perfectly justified in forming an international coalition as a means to flush those darn terrorists out of Afghanistan and they would have been right and no one would have faulted them. But no, Dubya and his playground buddies decide they wants to jazz it up, to rile up the populace, to place Dubya on a footing with Lincoln and FDR and Daddy Bush. So he says it's a war, because, like a little kid who wants his toys, he wants a war and he's going to get it and damn it all otherwise.
Except - it's all become rather inconvenient now because if there is a war, then aren't your captured combatants prisoners of war? D'oh! So they switch stories, change faces, because it's inconvenient. Like they rushed the USA-PATRIOT Act through. Like they wanted to circumvent the Constitution with military tribunals, because it's inconvenient. Note that they're eventually trying Zacarias Moussaoui in a federal court, but only because the press have been bitching (and rightly so) about the rightness of said tribunals. This administration has shown no respect for law, or order, or morality, otherwise. They've got the big fucking guns with the giant fucking bullets and that's all there is to it, so screw you, citizens, and screw you, the world.
Three more years, and counting...
Also, in case anyone missed it, do observe a moment of silence for the anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire on January 27, 1967 that killed astronauts Gus Grissom, Roger Chaffee and Ed White. In a different world, Gus (one of the original Mercury Seven) may have been the first man on the Moon instead of Neil Armstrong, that is, if Deke Slayton had had his way. They reminded us just how dangerous the dream can be, but that the dream can still be worth it the cost.
I realize, also, that I haven't ranted about Dubya recently, so I'm going to correct that right now. By now, most of you should be aware of the Afghan detainees in Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The big flap now, apparently, is whether or not they should be classified as prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention. Various countries and civil rights proponents have been making grumbling noises, and even Powell seems to be of the opinion that there should be some sort of hearing at least to determine their status, even if at the end that hearing concludes they are not to be accorded POW status.
The White House argues that they are not POWs because the attacks were on civilians and not military targets. They also say they don't want to accord them such status because the Geneva Convention requires only that POWs give their name, rank and serial number. This of course, would mean that the American authorities can't interrogate them. The White House claims this would deny them "flexibility" in questioning - presumably that means it's time for the rubber hoses and telephone books.
Now, it may or may not surprise you to know that I agree with the White House on this score, that the detainees are not POWs. That doesn't mean that they aren't entitled to some standards of care. I mean, even US prison experts have said that the way the detainees are being treated don't even measure up to US prison standards, which sounds pretty dire, if you ask me. Granted, at this point what they are - POWs or criminals or some odd third category - is unclear, but that doesn't justify animal-cage-like conditions.
However, inhumane treatment of the detainees aside, this shows how remarkably two-faced the Dubya administration is on the issue of whether or not there truly is a war. For months now they've been declaring to the world there is a war, there is a war - they've been assuming powers on the justification of having a war on, they've been conducting a military campaign as though there's a war on - every media outlet is calling it the war on terrorism. You get the picture, there's this whole war thing going on here. Even though Congress has not declared there is war. You know, that minor annoying technicality called the Constitution.
And now, the White House turns around and tells us, hey, these guys who were involved in the war - they aren't prisoners of war because they targeted civilians, not military targets, which is precisely the reason I've been saying all along that there hasn't been a fucking war. There is no war because there is no declared state of war, there is no enemy state that has declared war, there has only been acts of terrorism. This is why the Dubya administration loses credibility day after day. They can't even keep their own stories straight. If they had, from day one, declared this was a police action, fine. They could have stuck to their guns, and be perfectly justified in forming an international coalition as a means to flush those darn terrorists out of Afghanistan and they would have been right and no one would have faulted them. But no, Dubya and his playground buddies decide they wants to jazz it up, to rile up the populace, to place Dubya on a footing with Lincoln and FDR and Daddy Bush. So he says it's a war, because, like a little kid who wants his toys, he wants a war and he's going to get it and damn it all otherwise.
Except - it's all become rather inconvenient now because if there is a war, then aren't your captured combatants prisoners of war? D'oh! So they switch stories, change faces, because it's inconvenient. Like they rushed the USA-PATRIOT Act through. Like they wanted to circumvent the Constitution with military tribunals, because it's inconvenient. Note that they're eventually trying Zacarias Moussaoui in a federal court, but only because the press have been bitching (and rightly so) about the rightness of said tribunals. This administration has shown no respect for law, or order, or morality, otherwise. They've got the big fucking guns with the giant fucking bullets and that's all there is to it, so screw you, citizens, and screw you, the world.
Three more years, and counting...
