Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Newsbreak: International Terrorists are not U.S. Citizens

So why do people demand that they be treated as such?

My whole problem with this Guantanamo Bay fiasco is the treating of international terror suspects as United States citizens. The above-linked terrorist is a non-American accused of bombing a non-American location.

A few questions spring to mind...

A) Why are we (United States of America) the country still holding him? Rephrased: why hasn't he been subjected to a military tribunal yet?
B) Why is he getting a public trial in Manhattan (and seems to be receiving Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights) when he is not a U.S. citizen?
C) If the whole problem is that we are holding this prisoner "indefinitely", then why don't we just send him back to his home country? Oh wait, because they don't want him either.

I disagree with the likes of Senators McConnell and Reid, who are on different ends of the spectrum but both seem to make idiotic comments on a daily basis regarding the Gitmo detainees, but I also disagree slightly with Ron Paul, who is a strong pacifist. Someone has to keep the peace these days, with practically every fascist, communist, extremist, or psychopath capable of getting their hands on heavy weaponry, including but not limited to nuclear. The U.S. has been and continues to be the strongest military power in the world. We have not always used that power wisely (the Iraq debacle comes to mind), but it is because of our power and, in the past, our principles and dedication to liberty, that most nations and even terrorists respected our authority and have avoided pushing that button.

Why are our politicians trying harder and harder to cater to the wishes of other countries? Why do we have to be the leaders of environmentalism, when China is polluting ten times as much as we ever have? Barack Obama needs to stop trying to bow to every leader of the world (meant metaphorically, unless it's the King of Saudi Arabia I suppose). He needs to step up to the plate and do what he was elected to do: LEAD the greatest nation in the world.

"I am not a citizen of the world! Now, you can get all flowery if you want, but I'm not a citizen of the world. I'm a citizen of the United States of America, and I'm proud of that. That doesn't mean that I denigrate other countries. That doesn't mean I hate other countries or anything else. I'm proud of what we have here. There is a difference in America! America has made a difference! Our system has made a difference. I'm not a citizen of the world."
-Newt Gingrich

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