Just Shut It Down

[steve2470]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/27/opinion/27friedman.html?hp&oref=login


By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: May 27, 2005
London

Shut it down. Just shut it down.

I am talking about the war-on-terrorism P.O.W. camp at Guantánamo Bay. Just shut it down and then plow it under. It has become worse than an embarrassment. I am convinced that more Americans are dying and will die if we keep the Gitmo prison open than if we shut it down. So, please, Mr. President, just shut it down.


If you want to appreciate how corrosive Guantánamo has become for America's standing abroad, don't read the Arab press. Don't read the Pakistani press. Don't read the Afghan press. Hop over here to London or go online and just read the British press! See what our closest allies are saying about Gitmo. And when you get done with that, read the Australian press and the Canadian press and the German press.

It is all a variation on the theme of a May 8 article in The Observer of London that begins, "An American soldier has revealed shocking new details of abuse and sexual torture of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay in the first high-profile whistle-blowing account to emerge from inside the top-secret base." Google the words "Guantánamo Bay and Australia" and what comes up is an Australian ABC radio report that begins: "New claims have emerged that prisoners at Guantánamo Bay are being tortured by their American captors, and the claims say that Australians David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib are among the victims."

<snip>

[xray s]

1. Does Freidman think BushCo gives a shit what he thinks?

Does Freidman think Bush actually reads newspapers, much less FOREIGN newspapaers?

Hey Tom! Here's the deal. Bush like Gitmo. He likes torture. he likes getting frozen heads in a box.

get the picture?

[Bob3]

2. Worse than An embarrassment? That's the most you can say?

You F**King mealy mouthed prick - it was and is an outrage. It shouldn't have been tolerated for a minute but as long as it out of sight you were okay with it? But now you're not? We all knew what the hell was going on there and in Iraq but you were too busy cheering on the f**king Invasion of Normandy against terrorism (Iraq) and hoping that * would be less crazy from time to time to see the pay attention to the evil and rot and the maggots that *'s policies gave birth to. You are a contemptible swine. May your tongue turn to sand.


Sorry I just lose it when I read Friedman.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

3. Shut the fuck up, Tom

You're a weasel ass-sucker of the highest order. You've rendered yourself irrelevant, and, worse, offensive. And you've been wrong about everything. Everything.

So just shut up.

[Jack Rabbit]

4. Welcome to our side of the barricades over torture, Mr. Friedman

I hope Mr. Friedman wakes up. Not that I would agree with him on all things or even most things, but it would be nice to have him on our side on a few things.

Mr. Friedman supported the invasion of Iraq for some very strange reasons. Throughout the run up to the war, be was saying what should and shouldn't be done in Iraq, forgetting that this was going to be Mr. Bush's war and not the one that Tom Friedman thought it should be. Whether Mr. Friedman was right or not about what should have been done (and I don't think he was) really doesn't matter. The war that was waged was Mr. Bush's war, for all the reasons and in the way that Friedman warned would bring disaster.

Friedman was right about what could go wrong. He should be excoriated because he should have and did not see it coming. He should have known enough to oppose any war that would be led by Mr. Bush, simply because no matter what was right, Bush would only make a bad situation worse.

Welcome to our side of the barricades over Guantánamo and the rest of Mr. Bush's offshore network of gulags, Mr. Friedman. I, too, believe it should be shut down and plowed under. And I think those responsible for it should be charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity and brought before an international tribunal.

[struggle4progress]

5. Tom, haven't you seen yet? They used you and now they'll drop you cold.

[BillZBubb]

6. Is there a more useless piece of crap than Friedman?

The master of the obvious/conventional wisdom. Always a day late and a dollar short. The incredible thing is that anyone takes him seriously on any issue.

[orwell]

7. Sorry Tom...

my fingers are in my ears...

BTW: How do you like your little bloodbath...