Do you think the alleged terrorists at Guantanamo deserve a trial in a court of law?

[kentuck]

...in this country?

If not, why not?

Do you think it might inflame more terrorist acts against our country?

Do you think the people don't want it?

Why are so many people against it?

How is it different from making the photos public?

[aquart]

1. Yes. Yes. No. No. Idiots. None of them are rock stars.

[blondeatlast]

2. What aquart said. nt

[bemildred]

14. +1

Courts of law have stringent rules of evidence and disclosure, I think that is the sticking point.

[Bandit]

3. The ONLY way Republicans can justify their atrocious behavior over the last decade

is for the US to be at "WAR". We are not at "War", we are involved in a very intense world criminal organizational plot. The ONLY correct way to deal with it is through our Justice system and Special Forces operations..The military should be here in the USA where it belongs. GITMO should be closed immediately and any person we detain needs to be treated as our Constitution says they should be..America is only as good as it's worse policy.

[badtoworse]

7. Blowing up buildings, trains and airplanes, mass killing, potential WMD's?

Sure sounds like someone is at war. Yeah, it's criminal that there are low lifes who would target innocent civilians, but that doesn't mean it should be handled as a criminal matter. This is a war being fought with unconventional weapons and only a very naive person would deal with it as a law enforcement matter

[Bandit]

16. I believe that is nothing but hogwash

Timothy McVey blew up a building and killed hundreds of people, are we at war with everyone he associated with? Should we call in the Infantry? We are not at war with any nation on earth at this moment. We are using law enforcement techniques (now) in our endeavors and the results are obvious. We cut off the head of the snake..Not with air strikes but with law enforcement technique. Exactly the same way our SWAT teams work..Anyone that believes a few rag tag goat herders that live in caves on the other side of the earth warrant an all out military response is imo a very insecure person..You are in more danger from the Hells Angels or some other biker gang than any "Al Qaeda" goat herder from Afghanistan..Get a Grip and try and find a little Courage that America is supposed to be noted for..You know "The Home of the Brave" and all that...Right Wingers are the most terrified people I know of. They are scared of their own shadow so must arm themselves to the hilt and demand bully tactics from our Government..

[badtoworse]

22. Fortunately, the folks calling the shots see it differently than you do - nt

[DBoon]

4. Do you think the government has the right to "disappear" its opponents?

That is an alternate way of wording the question

The right to a trial is meant to prevent the abuses of a dictatorship

The number of people killed in terrorist attacks is just a footnote compared to the number of people executed without trial by their governments

[badtoworse]

5. No they don't. They are at war with us and we are at war with them.

This is fundamentally a military matter, not a law enforcement effort, so any trials should be held in a military court. The fact that the terrorists are not fighting under the flag of a particular country is irrelevant.

[Ian David]

6. How do you know they're actually the correct "they" unless they have a trial? n/t

[badtoworse]

8. Being captured, armed in a military confrontation would be a good indication

The people in question would still get a trial, but they would not have access to our criminal justice system. It would and should be done in a military court.

[Ian David]

9. Almost none of them were. Most of them were sold-out by someone with a grudge...

... in exchange for the reward money.

Some of them merely happened to be wearing a brand of wrist watch supposedly popular with Al Quaeda.

[badtoworse]

10. So try them - in a military court

Just because a trial is held in a military court does not mean it isn't a fair trial. Sorry, I don't want suspected terrorists captured in a foreign country to have access to our criminal justice system.

[Ian David]

11. Civilian courts have a higher conviction rate than military ones in terrorism cases. n/t

[KittyWampus]

12. You realize those who weren't terrorists have been released, right? Little fact so many DU'ers

overlook.

The ones left are guilty. And the Administration is between a rock and a hard place bringing them to trial because of Bush's fuck ups.

[Warren Stupidity]

13. "the ones left are guilty"

as evidenced by the fact that they are the ones left.

Why do we bother with the constitutional process for justice at all? Just take the guilty ones and punish them.

[bemildred]

15. No, no trials are mere formalities, public relations exercises, we already know the guilty ones.

:sarcasm:

[Warren Stupidity]

17. Oh well then they are prisoners of war and must be treated as per

the geneva conventions. Oh wait, they are not prisoners of war and if they were we would be guilty of war crimes.

This is a law enforcement issue. We are breaking our own laws in our mistreatment of these people.

[grahamhgreen]

19. Until congress declares war, that is not exactly the case.

[grahamhgreen]

18. Heck, I thought Bin Laden deserved a trial, ultimately,

taking him alive would have yielded more intel, as would public trials of Gitmo detainees.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

20. Yes, I do.

I always have thought that from the very beginning. I also think Bin Laden needed a trial, as well.

[efhmc]

21. They do if we are what we say we are: a democracy.

[PVnRT]

23. How is it different? Are any of them dead?

Yes, they deserve trials. In fact, public trials would do more to reduce terrorist threats than inflame them. Releasing bin Laden's death photo would do the opposite.