Friday, June 17, 2005

Defense Chief Speaks in Defense of Gitmo

Fire of Liberty

US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has a good response in today's Op/Ed pages of USA Today to the absurd claims about Gitmo from Amnesty International, the MSM and Senator Durbin these past weeks. I particularly enjoyed these paragraphs of Rumsfeld's Op/Ed:
As the president has said, we are always looking for ways to improve our procedures. And of course we have been looking for better suggestions as to how to manage detainees who pose a lethal threat to the civilized world, and we have already implemented dozens of reforms.

The real problem is not Guantanamo Bay. The problem is that, to a large extent, we are in unexplored territory with this unconventional and complex struggle against extremism. Traditional doctrines covering criminals and military prisoners do not apply well enough.

It is important to remember that the purpose of detaining these enemy combatants is not to punish them for committing a crime, but to gain intelligence about terrorist operations and to prevent them from attacking again. We have gained intelligence at Guantanamo that have stopped terror attacks and saved American lives.
I guess you should never challenge a naval fighter pilot like Rumsfeld to a duel over the truth on Gitmo, they might not be able to hold their water. Well done Secretary Rumsfeld.

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