Living in the Gulag

Last week I was in Washington where a significant group of aging warriors came together to remember good times and bad. Out of nearly 1000 Air Force, Navy, Marine and Army aviators from Vietnam through Iraqi Freedom, we had more than 160 former POW’s who had been interred by the North Vietnamese for periods up to seven years. They could tell the folks at Amnesty International a bit about prisoner abuse.

The outrage seems to be about Quantanamo and the use of the emotional term “gulag” in describing how we have dealt with the terrorists captured in Iraq and Afghanistan. Amnesty Int. Calls it a Gulag It seems that the handling of 520 detainees at gitmo during which such incredibly painful events have occurred as dropping of a holy book to the floor has led to the AI folks creating a linkage with the millions incarcerated in the Soviet gulags of good ol’ Joe Stalin. Yes, we Americans are evil incarnate as we heap these indignities on the folks we’re holding at Quantanamo. My God, there are TEN instances in the past THREE YEARS of ALLEGED abuse. And, as a result of this abuse, the world is going to not think we are very nice.

Maybe we should have AI leader Irene Khan drop in to help the guards with situations like this one reported in the Washington Times: Living la vida loco I’m sure she would quickly develop an emotional bond with the young detainee who simply seems to have been a bit over-aggressive in trying to wipe a tear from a guard’s eye or maybe pluck a bit of lettuce from a tooth. Yeah, right.

Let’s clear up a few things. First, no sane society builds holding facilities for terrorists and psychotics in the center of the community. You put those who are unquestionably amoral and dedicated to maximizing destruction of your way of life into remote places where in the event of escape or inadvertent release they will be isolated.

Second, these detainees are NOT entitled to protection as Prisoners of War under the Geneva Conventions. For that consideration you need to meet a number of fairly clear criteria. You need to wear a uniform. You need to carry national identification cards. You need to be a recognized belligerent from a nation that is a signatory to the accords. You need to abide by the rules of war; you know, little things like not targeting civilians and non-combatants, using legal weaponry, identifying yourself, etc. These folks are not military, they are terrorists. They don’t represent a national policy, they are psychotics dedicated to killing us and destroying our way of life. Get it?

Third, they are being provided food, clothing, health care, and religious consideration. Something that was not routine in either the Soviet gulag or the experience of those brave guys I shared time with last week.

Fourth, the application of military tribunals is legal and authorized. These thugs do not have the protections of the American constitution. They receive humanitarian consideration well beyond that which they provide for their captives, kidnapping victims, political pawns and terror targets.

And, fifth, there is a distinct possibility that many of them may harbor information which could aid in dismantling the remaining terrorist networks. Maybe they don’t, but if the possibility exists it must be effectively exploited.

Does the US have a policy of torture and abuse? C’mon, let’s get real here. Getting photographed in your Jockey shorts is just a little bit short of being beheaded in a videotape.