Free Bird

Eagles are a majestic species . . . living in the thin searing air
building nests on precipitous ledges . . .
they are endangered . . . but unafraid . . .
* * *
people are improperly imprinted ducklings . . .
Eagles (a poem for Lisa), by Nikki Giovanni

The media is so habituated to government speak that it still refers to the Gitmo prisoners as detainees. These people, whether terrorist or not, were held for years without trials, convictions or any other niceties of U.S. or international law, and still they are called detainees. I guess because it wouldn't sound too good to append the words "illegally held" to the front of it. Too clunky; doesn't ring.

The AP article, "'Vicious Killers' of Guantanamo are Routinely Freed" (Andrew O. Selsky, 12/15/06), reports on the fate of almost 250 former Gitmo detainees. Almost all have been released by their countries of transfer. This suggests either they are not so vicious--as Donald Rumsfeld had referred to them--or these countries, some our "staunchest allies," have set terrorists and militants free.

All of them spent years isolated from family and friends, often in solitary confinement, enduring stress positions, endless hostile interrogations, and generally treated as scum and still we can't call them what they are. Where is Solzhenitsyn when we need him? When the Russians did this, it was brutal and inhumane. When the U.S. does this as an institutional policy, then it's called a strategy in the War on Terror.

The U.S. cannot imprison anybody legally without charges, trials and guilty verdicts. Since the administration denies POW status to these individuals, then they must be dealt with through the federal legal system. Any other approach is criminal behavior by the U.S. administration.

To sum it up, the vicious killers of Gitmo, generally speaking, were as dangerous as a bucket of fish bait. Many had been sold down the river by warlords to U.S. forces for bounties.

It will be interesting to see if any pursue legal redress against the U.S. government. After all, this is why we have courts. Also, accountability is a democratic concept, so let freedom ring. As Ashcroft so wonderfully sings--it flies like an eagle once it escapes the Gitmo prisons.