http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/texson1986/5486 The following article is part of a column by Neil Steinberg, from the Chicago Sun-Times this past Wednesday: ... and justice for all Americans must adhere to our own standards when dealing with prisoners   My wife recently started setting the alarm on our clock radio, since the 11-year-old has orchestra, and somebody has to prod his little pre-adolescent hiney out the door. So we wake up with a dose of the WGN news, which mentioned Monday that the Supreme Court is convening its fall season and will, among other matters, explore the status of prisoners being held indefinitely at Guantanamo Bay. It'll probably decide that they aren't Americans and so don't have any rights, I think, sleepily. The next thought jars me awake like a gong: They aren't Americans ... but we are. As foreigners on foreign soil, they may indeed have no American legal rights. But as Americans, wherever we go, on whatever soil we tread, we have definite obligations to our system of justice, to our standards of morality. Don't we? At the Nuremberg trials, we took pains to administer justice to the Nazis, even though they were foreigners on foreign soil, even though they were guilty as sin of enormous crimes. How can we do any less for this ragbag of unfortunates, scooped off the battlefields of Afghanistan? Some guilty of something, some guilty of nothing at all. How does their possibly being enemies relieve us of the need to adhere to our own standards?  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ Do you think our prisoners of "war" at Gitmo deserve the rights we hold dear? (The right to an attorney, the right to be charged in a timely manner, the right to know what you're charged with).  ~ What are your thoughts about our government detaining these foreign men on foreign soil and doing an end-run around our Constitution? The following article is part of a column by Neil Steinberg, from the Chicago Sun-Times this past Wednesday: ... and justice for all Americans must adhere to our own standards when dealing with prisoners   My wife recently started setting the alarm on our clock radio, since the 11-year-old has orchestra, and somebody has to prod his little pre-adolescent hiney out the door. So we wake up with a dose of the WGN news, which mentioned Monday that the Supreme Court is convening its fall season and will, among other matters, explore the status of prisoners being held indefinitely at Guantanamo Bay. It'll probably decide that they aren't Americans and so don't have any rights, I think, sleepily. The next thought jars me awake like a gong: They aren't Americans ... but we are. As foreigners on foreign soil, they may indeed have no American legal rights. But as Americans, wherever we go, on whatever soil we tread, we have definite obligations to our system of justice, to our standards of morality. Don't we? At the Nuremberg trials, we took pains to administer justice to the Nazis, even though they were foreigners on foreign soil, even though they were guilty as sin of enormous crimes. How can we do any less for this ragbag of unfortunates, scooped off the battlefields of Afghanistan? Some guilty of something, some guilty of nothing at all. How does their possibly being enemies relieve us of the need to adhere to our own standards?  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ Do you think our prisoners of "war" at Gitmo deserve the rights we hold dear? (The right to an attorney, the right to be charged in a timely manner, the right to know what you're charged with).  ~ What are your thoughts about our government detaining these foreign men on foreign soil and doing an end-run around our Constitution? en-us Why are we scared of our own justice system? A military tribunal without habeas corpus amounts to a mockery. Why not just kill them after you capture them? http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/texson1986/5486/#c_21865 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/texson1986/5486/#c_21865 Why are we scared of our own justice system? A military tribunal without habeas corpus amounts to a mockery. Why not just kill them after you capture them? I could not agree with you more Mike! When I think of Guantanamo Bay or Abu Ghraib I can not help but think of a quote from Alexis de Tocqueville "America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great." http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/texson1986/5486/#c_21888 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/texson1986/5486/#c_21888 I could not agree with you more Mike! When I think of Guantanamo Bay or Abu Ghraib I can not help but think of a quote from Alexis de Tocqueville "America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great."