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Plans to close Gitmo anger 9/11 victim families

World Jan. 20, 2009 - 02:49PM JST ( 19 )

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19 Comments

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smithinjapanJan. 20, 2009 - 03:04PM JST

"Plans to close Guantanamo are not sitting well with one group: Relatives of people killed in the Sept 11 attacks who sat in stunned silence as two alleged terrorists said they were proud of their role in the plot."

These two men are absolutely horrible and disgusting individuals, and if/when they plead guilty at an actual trial, they should be charged accordingly and punished severely. That being said, I don't agree with the blanket statement by some victims' families that 'it must be kept open and justice served'. Justice is NOT being served in more than a few cases, with no proof of guilt for some people and no trial, access to lawyers, etc. Try them all and punish those who are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, but "justice" is not being served at all for those who are innocent, and as much as the survivors and family want to blame someone for what happened, having innocents suffer does nothing to bring back the dead.
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cleoJan. 20, 2009 - 03:21PM JST

What smitty said.

Also -

“If not here, where?”

Why not in the US, under a regular system of justice? Or is Mr Arias claiming that justice cannot be served in the US? If not, why not?
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buddha4brainsJan. 20, 2009 - 03:28PM JST

Fine, let's go for justice. Where were these families when Bush decided that Bin Laden was not that important in his lame-pursuit of justice?

This is nothing but grandstanding but the day for that was about 5 years ago.

Gitmo does not have to stay open in order to serve justice.
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wuzzademcratJan. 20, 2009 - 03:29PM JST

"Justice is NOT being served in more than a few cases, with no proof of guilt for some people and no trial, access to lawyers, etc."

So excitable. They have had access to lawyers. And the issue now is getting them out of Gitmo and back to where they came from. But most of Europe doesn't want their wayward Muslim citizens (in Afghanistan for, uh, language lessons) back, on the dole and plotting the destruction of Western civilization.
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adaydreamJan. 20, 2009 - 03:31PM JST

It doesn't do the U. S. any good keeping Gitmo open for a couple of bad guys. Close it as soon as we can and process the bad guys accordingly. < :-)
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likeitisJan. 20, 2009 - 03:41PM JST

It is a really really bad idea to leave justice in the hands of the executive branch and the military. We have a judicial branch for a reason folks.
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timorborderJan. 20, 2009 - 03:45PM JST

Instead of wringing your hands over whether GITMO should close or not, something needs to be done to speed up the legal process. Stop the distinction between Americans and Non-Americans, put the whole lot in front of a court in the US and try them. If they are guilty act accordingly (execution, etc.), on the other hand, if the cases cannot be proven in an open court of law, holding these people is essentially the same as kidnapping.
This is a dilemma I do understand. If people don't want these folks to receive a fair trial, rendition them to their country of origin. The folks in Afghanistan would be more than willing to shoot these clowns on America's behalf. On the other hand, if they do want these folks to get a full trial, try them like John Lind (the American tourist in Afghanistan) and treat them accordingly.
Finally, it should be remembered that all the folks who carried out 9/11 are dead. Those who planned it are still on the run, however, when they are caught, they should receive a fair trial and be executed afterwards.
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likeitisJan. 20, 2009 - 04:09PM JST

Instead of wringing your hands over whether GITMO should close or not, something needs to be done to speed up the legal process.

Good point timorborder.

put the whole lot in front of a court in the US and try them.

Only if they committed a crime on U.S. soil, or abetted such a crime from afar. Otherwise, they belong to the ICJ.
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skipthesongJan. 20, 2009 - 06:55PM JST

Why not in the US, under a regular system of justice? Or is Mr Arias claiming that justice cannot be served in the US? If not, why not?"

Why not the UN?

Honestly, I don't trust the US legal system. I always seems to work in favor of the perps of crime. Is there any place in the world where you can walk off scot free due to a small technicality.

Sure, close the place, but giving them the same rights as those people that were killed and one of the reason they feel its right to kill those people is partly due to our legal process.
I can't believe there should be a blanket law for all the people in the people in the world in just the US.

We have one of the mastermind of 9-11 there who blatantly says he did it. I was rumored that when found, the first words out of his mouth were "I'll get my lawyer in New York".
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skipthesongJan. 20, 2009 - 06:59PM JST

additionally, why should those of us who lost friends and loved ones on 9-11 be happy gitmo is closing? What, so we can say Mr. Ali, look how nice we are and take a look at our system and how it works for you too.. What is going to say, Oh, I am so sorry I did this?
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SushiSake3Jan. 20, 2009 - 07:22PM JST

Cleo - "Why not in the US, under a regular system of justice? Or is Mr Arias claiming that justice cannot be served in the US? If not, why not?"

What else, really, can be said?

Quit the arguing here.
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unscrejectsJan. 20, 2009 - 09:08PM JST

No wonder it's such a problem for the US - they still don't get it. The families of victims that is. These two creatures are the only guys the US can say were involved in the plot - and the US had them how many times before they committed the attacks? Let's see now - drive-by attack on CIA headquarters, resident in New Jersey planning against the first World Trade attack which the FBI chose to ignore when warned about, the Philipines bombings and bomb building the CIA refused to look into... Why were they taken to Gitmo? The US could have interviewed them in Pakistan and Manila. The guys that ended up in Gitmo were mostly people picked up by Pakistan's notorious "I'll give you a terrorist if you pay me" secret service. Hey we have guys taken from Zambia that have never seen a muslim in their lives rotting in Gitmo.
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SuperLibJan. 20, 2009 - 09:18PM JST

The problems with handing these men over to the US legal system are numerous. We had quite a long discussion about it on the previous thread.
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neverknow2Jan. 20, 2009 - 11:07PM JST

Didnt the bad guys die in the planes along with the victims?
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goodDonkeyJan. 20, 2009 - 11:37PM JST

buddha4brains said:

Fine, let's go for justice. Where were these families when Bush decided that Bin Laden was not that important in his lame-pursuit of justice?

Awesome comment. Absolutely nobody came from Cuba to bomb the WTC. Gitmo is in fact irrelevant to any acts of terrorism. It was simply a location to deal with terrorists. Instead of properly dealing with the problem Bush resorted to torture which hurt the true American cause.

When an article like this claims Plans to close Gitmo anger 9/11 victim families it does not represent every family or every family member of the victims only ones vocal on this issue at this time. In any case we cannot be swayed by the victims for the location of a detention center when the real issue was a failure to capture the leader of the greatest act of terrorism on American soil.

timorborder said:

something needs to be done to speed up the legal process

I agree. However, it is too late to escape the determination that this process was bungled. Instead of proceeding with just trials Bush and Cheney wanted to act like heroes defeating terrorism. They are still touting their great defeat of terrorism as their great strengths; all the while they are being pushed out the door with the whole world not buying into their crap anymore. The time to act quickly or even timely has passed. Justice is long overdue. Close disgraceful Gitmo and close the chapter of an American failure.
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Taka313Jan. 21, 2009 - 02:44AM JST

What is comforting to read is that all of the people interviewed showed an interest in justice, not revenge.

In my opinion, they deserve to see justice so I hope our new Commander-in-Chief doesn't repeat things like, "I have no idea and really don't care (where bin laden is). It's not that important. It's not our priority."

Taka
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IcingDeathJan. 21, 2009 - 03:41AM JST

I say send them to an American Prison. I am sure they will get a "warm" welcome from some of our incarcerated countrymen.
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JoeBigsJan. 21, 2009 - 11:27PM JST

I hope that these men will go through our courts systems rather than military tribunal system.If they are found guilty within our courts then give them the max. For too long these cases have been hidden from view.

I am glad to see that we great nation is leaving the darkness we were in for these past 7 years.