[fluff]

I'm not sure I'd hire their consultant. Or the US spokesperson.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/5069230.stm

A top US official has described the suicides of three detainees at the US base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as a "good PR move to draw attention".

Speaking to the BBC's Newshour programme, Ms Graffy, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, said the three men did not value their lives nor the lives of those around them.



__________________________________________________

Gobsmacked.
(Edit: I missed a fairly crucial 'not'...)

 

[BurlyShirley]

These same people blow themselves up with an agenda, why cant they hang themselves with one?

Why is it bad to suggest that?

 

[fluff]

These same people blow themselves up with an agenda, why cant they hang themselves with one?

Why is it bad to suggest that?

Whilst they may have had an agenda it is a damning indictment of the US administration's attitude to justice that they have held these men without charge or trial for over four years and still find no humanity to express any sentiment beyond those in article. Clearly they killed themselves for publicity and out of despair; they are highlighting the injustice of their incarceration without charge or trial - basic human rights that the US should be committed to defend yet wilfully, even gleefully, ignore. If they have committed a crime, charge them and try them. Otherwise release them.

"Waging an asymetrical war" eh? Shouldn't be too hard to win that one if your enemies keep killing themselves. May even avoid collateral damage for a change.

 

[fluff]

I guess I should have called this 'Another Dead Guy Thread'.

Seems like the administration realised they weren't looking so good at the PR themselves.

Also seems like one of the suicides wasn't so dangerous after all:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/5070514.stm

"I wouldn't characterise this as a good PR move," Cully Stimson, US deputy assistance secretary of defence, told the BBC's Today programme, on Monday.

"What I would say is that we are always concerned when someone takes his own life, because as Americans we value life even if it is the life of a violent terrorist captured waging war against our country."

-----------------------------

He said US policy was to refuse to tell prisoners they were due to be released until a location had been found.

Utaybi had been declared a "safe person, free to be released" but the US needed a country to send him to, Professor Denbeaux said.

"His despair was great enough and in his ignorance he went and killed himself," he said.

 

[BurlyShirley]

Whilst they may have had an agenda it is a damning indictment of the US administration's attitude to justice that they have held these men without charge or trial for over four years and still find no humanity to express any sentiment beyond those in article. Clearly they killed themselves for publicity and out of despair; they are highlighting the injustice of their incarceration without charge or trial - basic human rights that the US should be committed to defend yet wilfully, even gleefully, ignore. If they have committed a crime, charge them and try them. Otherwise release them.

"Waging an asymetrical war" eh? Shouldn't be too hard to win that one if your enemies keep killing themselves. May even avoid collateral damage for a change.

I dont understand exactly what you want. In no war would you let your enemies go back out on the battlefield to fight you, so keeping them locked up seems logical to me. They arent necessarily criminals at this point, they're enemy combatants. You cant charge somebody for fighting for their own cause, necessarily.

 

[fluff]

I dont understand exactly what you want. In no war would you let your enemies go back out on the battlefield to fight you, so keeping them locked up seems logical to me. They arent necessarily criminals at this point, they're enemy combatants. You cant charge somebody for fighting for their own cause, necessarily.

I thought we'd won that war. How long can you continue to keep these people imprisoned?

It's not like they invaded the US, we invaded their country. It seems that the govt was going to let one of the dead guys go pretty soon anyway so clearly they realise that you can't keep them locked up forever.

 

[N8 v2.0]

At least in Gitmo they are killing themselves instead of killing themselves and others in a sucide attack.

Gotta love Club Gitmo!!!

 

[BurlyShirley]

I thought we'd won that war. How long can you continue to keep these people imprisoned?

It's not like they invaded the US, we invaded their country. It seems that the govt was going to let one of the dead guys go pretty soon anyway so clearly they realise that you can't keep them locked up forever.

You can play your little word games with it all you want, but the fact of the matter is, people are still in combat, and if you let these guys go, its more people shooting back. They arent criminals, necessarily.

 

[ohio]

You can play your little word games with it all you want

It's not fluff's word game, it's Bush's.

Utaybi had been declared a "safe person, free to be released."

Not exactly an enemy combatant being released to wage war against us again...

No one is denying the realities of a war, but this is a cultural battle as well, and we are losing that one terribly.

 

[jaydee]

So how many virgins do you get for killing only yourself and not even making a loud noise? I'd think no more than 10.

 

[Changleen]

Fluff, You'll probably like this:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=2071642&page=1

The War on Language.

 

[sanjuro]

These same people blow themselves up with an agenda, why cant they hang themselves with one?

Why is it bad to suggest that?

Uh, prisoner suicide is not exactly in the Jailer's handbook. Jails are suppose to protect their charges, even from killing themselves.

It makes us look bad, not that we need any help in that department.

 

[BurlyShirley]

Uh, prisoner suicide is not exactly in the Jailer's handbook. Jails are suppose to protect their charges, even from killing themselves.

It makes us look bad, not that we need any help in that department.

If someone REALLY wants to kill themselves, there is no way to stop them short of strapping them down. And how humane would we be then?