Monday, March 14, 2005

Enemy Combatants

Many conservatives and Republicans claimed that the Al-Qaeda members are not protected under the Geneva Conventions because they did not fight for a government or a country. In other words, once they signed up with the Al Qaeda, they forfeited their citizenship or the birthright of their country. Then the Bush Administration coined a word, "Enemy Combatant" which totally put them in a position that the Geneva Conventions cannot apply at all.

This permitted our government to play around the rules to torture and imprison the people. They do not have to provide the legal counsel nor to provide the reasons why they are there. None at all.

The ACLU was right to argue in the courts that every person has the right to defend themselves, even if they hated us. That is the true American principle, we try to shine ourselves in good light that despite the fact they fought us, we still fight back with justice and honor. They may play dirty, but we can play dirty with honest, justice and honorable tactics. From the ACLU's perspective, every person, citizen or non-citizen, has the right to have a trial. That is universal right, regardless the Muslims, Communists, Americans or Russians does not like it or not.

When the court rulings finally indicated that the enemy combatants in Gitmo Bay has the right to have the trial, the Bush Administration is contacting with different countries to transfer the enemy combatants away from the American courts. Why? The administration does not want the enemy combatants to have their time in the courts. They just want to capture, kill, torture and lock them -- never to be seen again. They try to view the people who fight against us as less than humans. They are not.

I thought the Americans has a pride in having honor, justice and the truth? Not any longer.

For 200 years, the world looked at Americans as a place to uphold the truth, justice and freedom to all. Why do you think the French made the Statue of Liberty with a torch? It is very symbolic -- to lighten the darkness with justice, freedom, truth and honor. But over the years, it seemed to me that things do change, especially with the capitalistic society where money is important than an ordinary person.

Hell, my parents thought the property value is more important than the neighbor across the street -- you see, my father showed me the property value 3 years before the African American couple moved in across the street and the property value a year after. The property value decreased! Even with the fact that this African American couple took care of their house 1,568,431 times better than the previous couple who are caucasians. I wondered why. My father said, "Know why? The government looks at n***** skin first. Do not care if they good people. Skin equals money. Government interested first: MONEY, not people." But I digress.

The attitude is now, "As long as they are not Americans, fuck 'em. Not my problem."

I guaranteed that with the notion, it will only enrage the people who hated us and it will give them plenty of incentives to undermine the democracy growth around the world.

We have to acknowledge that everyone else has the right to have the trial even if they inflict the barbaric attacks on us. We cannot capture the persons, fly them all over the world, torture them and detain them for years without a cause or a trial. We cannot do that, it is not honorable thing to do.

Certainly not a Christian thing to do.

Certainly very inhumane thing to do. We are no better than Osama bin Laden and his friends.

R-

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