Amid all the focus on elections and Super Tuesday, it’s worth noting the lonely death of Abdul Razzaq Hekmati at Guantanamo prison in Cuba. Many Afghans regard Hekmati as a war hero for his resistance to Soviet occupation in the 1980s. He also organized a daring 1999 escape of three prisoners held by the Taliban.
But in 2003, Hekmati was accused — falsely, say Afghan officials — of being a Taliban commander himself and sent to Guantanamo prison.
Five years later, on Dec. 30, he died there of natural causes — cancer. Under the military tribunal system, he never had the chance to defend himself in court, call witnesses or clear his name.
This is American justice?
The Supreme Court is expected to decide soon whether Guantanamo detainees have the right to challenge their detention in federal court. Meanwhile, 275 prisoners continue to languish there in legal limbo. And Guantanamo continues to be a black mark on America’s good name.
29 Comments
Once accused, under the bush doctrine, you become a non-entity. It has been so decried.
Thank you John McCain and fellow Republican traitors to Democracy.
That picture could become a lasting emblem of the fading, failed, hated bush administration.
Boo hoo
He was a terrorist remember! Ok he was maybe a terrorist! Ok he might have been a terrorists! OK he was in the same country that the terrorists were in! OK his name is kind of sort of like the same names of terrorists! OK what the complaint about? He died of natural causes! It not like he was water boarded! OK, no… it is not OK!
Knasas – how did McCain contribute to his being held hostage and his death?
Good post dog! That’s exactly how it will go on this thread!
I’ve heard Obama say he will replace the freedoms bush took away — he specifically addressed habeas corpus. Has any other nominee told us this change will be corrected?
Being guilty because someone said so, never being told what you’re charged with, having no right to wage a defense is WRONG!
“Being guilty because someone said so, never being told what you’re charged with, having no right to wage a defense is WRONG!”
Posted by L55.
Gosh, but Bush said he’s guilty, so he must be. Bush has never been wrong, has he?
(sarcasm off)
Exactly! Remenber he’s the “decideficator”.
They would not be there if they weren’t terrorists. I guess the libs would let them all go, to kill again. Yes there will be a few who slipped through the cracks and didn’t get killed the first time. Are we suppose to feel sorrry for these killers.
And the next president — the one someone will disagree with — has that same right to decide who is an illegal enemy combatant. No need to say why, what the charge is, or offer the right to defend oneself. That person, once determined to be such by whoever is president, disappears.
It’s a bad law! No one, no president should have that power!
Yeah, yeah, I know bush is always right. Far right. 347 days, 13 hours, 6 minutes.
“They would not be there if they weren’t terrorists.”
How do you know that? Did Rush tell you?
The problem is; with no due process and no hearings there is no way to know that.
“And the next president — the one someone will disagree with — has that same right to decide who is an illegal enemy combatant.”
Interesting concept. Suppose Hillary gets elected. Suppose she decides Rush is an enemy. And suppose he is ‘combative.’ Then I suppose she can just pack him off to Gitmo and have him waterboarded – WITHOUT the drugs!
It this was all reversed, it would be a different story. Do you think the Islamic crazies would treat their captives as good as we do? No way, our captured soldiers would lose their heads, or be buried in a mass grave. Who you for? It’s them or us.
I bet the guy got better medical for his cancer than many americans do.
George – he was on OUR side:
“Many Afghans regard Hekmati as a war hero for his resistance to Soviet occupation in the 1980s. He also organized a daring 1999 escape of three prisoners held by the Taliban.”
Or do you simply consider ALL Muslims to be our enemy?
If there was due process for GITMO prisoners, I doubt there would be any resistance to the place.
Agreed. Just as I have offered my rope for the carr brothers (after trial and conviction) I also offer a rope here.
I bet the guy got better medical for his cancer than many americans do.
Hey buddy, want another cigarette.
I have this really chic asbestos jacket you can have.
It this was all reversed, it would be a different story. Do you think the Islamic crazies would treat their captives as good as we do?
huh???
the way it works in iraq…
patrols go out in the middle of the night to find the bad guys.
someone tells them they are in the 3rd house from the corner.
they break down the door, shoot most of the family sleeping, and beat the crap out of the others while tearing their house apart.
to save the few remaining living members of the family someone tells them the bad guys live across the street.
they go there, kick the door down, kill half the family, beat the rest, and are told the bad guys live 5 doors down.
same thing again.
do the iraq people love us for giving them the gift of democracy?
maybe, or maybe not.
Guantanamo Bay Prison has become the American version of a Nazi concentration camp or a South American soccer stadium where undesirables just “disappear.”
Shameful, scandelous, and as UNAMERICAN as you can get.
Don’t worry, folks, President Obama will shut it down soon . . .
“It this was all reversed, it would be a different story. Do you think the Islamic crazies would treat their captives as good as we do?”
Right, dip$h*t.
We want to judge ourselves on the basis of how our enemies behave.
Nice.
Being an American means we hold ourselves to HIGHER standards, supposedly.
I guess you haven’t figured that out.
george – You do not get to use other countries as a basis for how the United States of America comports itself!!! We are not terrorists, and should NOT act like them.
Capn – We were posting the same thing at the same time. Great minds and all that.
Do you think the Islamic crazies would treat their captives as good as we do?
Can’t help but consider how Stalin treated people. You’re promoting communism now?
Ben
Has John McCain stood up to Bush and said unequivocally that Gitmo needs to shut down?
Has he unequivocally said that HE will shut it down when and if he becomes President?
The Republicans (John McCain included) have supported this insane policy from the beginning.
Kansas – to the best of my knowledge he has not. remember, I am not a McCain supporter.
I remember in my younger and sillier days living through the late seventies. Our embassy was seized in Iran, Americans were held prisoners, the economy was in the tank and pride in America was low. Along came Ronald Reagan, built up the military, and made us proud to stand up and say we were Americans again. Granted, there were problems along the way, but President Reagan could stand tall, speak well, promise a future and instill confidence.
A couple of presidents later we have G. W. Bush…also a right wing conservative. What a difference leadership makes! Our economy is in the tank, the budget deficit is at an all time high, our manufacturing businesses are floundering as jobs go overseas, our military is replaced by mercenaries (err, contractors), torture of people is Ok, holding “enemy combatants” without charges for years is fine, secret CIA camps, warrantless wiretapping, and spying on our own citizens is encouraged, children go without health care, the homeless without help, college students struggle without support, and poverty stricken people compete with immigrants that stream across our open borders for jobs that will never lift them above living hand to mouth.
One man gave me hope that the Republican party could be better than the greed and paranoia exhibited by Richard Nixon and his crowd. And the other man has made me more ashamed of the Republican party and the administration that the United States has elected (twice) than I have ever been in my life.
Is it any wonder that all of the current candidates for President are crying that we need change?
“And Guantanamo continues to be a black mark on America’s good name.”
What “good” name? GW and his cronies have ruined our image to the world, and Guantanamo certainly is but only one of the few “black marks” on our name.
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