I don't recall German POWs in World War II being put through the criminal justice system.
There's only a couple hundred people at Gitmo and most of them were captured on the battlefield. What does one do with enemy combatants in a time of war?
When does this war end, draginol? When violence no longer exists and world peace reigns supreme? After all, it's a "war on terror"; all we need to do is redefine terror, and we've given these people a life sentence without benefit of trial, without due process. That's the problem with a "war" on an ideology; it CAN'T be won.
Do we give these people due process, do we give them trial by jury? In my opinion, the answer is, emphatically YES, because we ARE Americans, we ARE the greatest nation on the earth, and because the ideals we hold dear ARE noble and just. Our founding fathers held human rights to be INALIENABLE (Yes, I know that the phrase doesn't appear in the Constitution, but the Declaration IS a foundation document that helps to understand the mindset of the founding fathers).
Yes, most of these men were captured on the battlefield. But are all of them terorists, or were some of them simply defending their homeland, the same way you or I would if we were being invaded? Iraq may not be perfect, but to them it is their homeland, their nation. Do we villainize and give them life sentences for doing what we would do in a similar situation?
Give these people due process. Give them fair trials. And let the chips fall where they may. Anything less IS inhuman, it demeans us as a nation, and it makes the criticism of outsiders just and reasonable.
