IS GUANTANAMO OBAMA'S ACHILLE'S HEEL : A HUNGER STRIKE SHINES AN UNCOMFORTABLE SPOTLIGHT ON THE GITMO PROBLEM

 

Many presidential promises are broken upon reaching that coveted seat.  But one of the worse historical renegations has been the neglected closure of Guantanamo as a center for 'enemy combatants.'

Never a true legal justification, nor a practical one for the indeterminate detention of alleged or certified terrorists, the measure was adopted to keep people who the US thought might have useful information without any right to recourse, and without any transparency as to the evidence used to keep the person imprisoned.

Eleven years have passed since the 9/11 bombing.  And yet no legal resolution has been found for the problem that is Guantanamo.

The hunger strike at Guantanamo has therefore done more to bring the case to closure, than years of press and human rights involvement. 

And truth be told, we do not need Gitmo to keep America safe.  It is a travesty that will cost us dearly in the future, if we have any our soldiers detained without rights under the Geneva convention with a similar 'legal' device.  

It is also a shame on our country, and it is instrumentalized to the hilt by extremist as a blatant example of our methods and our unfairness. 

Obama, in the meantime, has again opined on the fact that Guantanamo is a sore that needs healing. And yet, no commission has been empanelled to find a legal solution to it.  

In addition, the hunger strike has prompted action in the form of a contingent of specialized doctors who are supposed to force feed the prisoners.  And that some say is unconstitutional, as if some part or all of the Gitmo experience had some sort of legal purchase. 

So what then, to do with Gitmo?  Eighty six prisoners have received clearances for a transfer or release.  But to where? Are they to be sent to some foreign country who will continue their detention, with even less scrutiny over their future?  

Of the 166 prisoner still at Gitmo, 100 are on hunger strike, even though some of the foreign lawyers for the Gitmo detainees assert there are many more, and all of the prisoners seem to be participating in the strike in some form or another. 

Source : MSNBC 5.1.13