In response to the article Closing of Gitmo threat to U.S. security, mistake.""
After much contemplation, it is obscene to say the closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention center is a decision President Obama will come to regret. Upon his platform, President Obama promised to put a stop to the inhumane forms of interrogation that were being used at Gitmo.
It is hypocritical at the least to put any human being behind bars without a proper trial, especially under the Bush administration, who entered Iraq not only on false pretences, but to spread democracy to a nation under a dictatorship. If spreading democracy were the outcome we wished to obtain upon entering Iraq, then it would be our responsibility to spread the ideals Americans hold so dear to their hearts - such as simple human rights and the right to trial in front of a judge, with a provided lawyer if unable to obtain one on their own.
To say that you don't want to know what is going on as long as Americans are safe and no American's constitutional rights are being violated is extremely ignorant. They say people obtain the knowledge they want to, filter in what coincides with their belief system and forget the information that doesn't. This is not a case to allow partisan politics to stand in the way of human rights. The American citizens need to know what is going on across the ocean, especially when it involves our military. Turning our backs on the information given about the events that took place in Gitmo allows anything to happen behind closed doors. This is not how our government or media works. We, as Americans, have a responsibility to our prisons and detention centers, Guantanamo Bay being one that calls for our attention.
Must we take a trip down memory lane? Back to 2000, when American troops acted in the worst form of torture known since the civil rights movement? At no time is forcing feeding tubes down prisoners' throats or forcing them to engage in sexual intercourse in front of U.S. soldiers acceptable.
President Obama has made a wise choice in closing down Gitmo within a year. Without expert judges, lawyers and specialists, we as a country can gauge who is a threat to this country. Without giving a proper trial we would be contradicting the ideals we live by. To spread democracy and not take the Sixth Amendment into account has been an asinine mistake showcased the last eight years. Before jumping to threat-level red, take a step back and look at the whole picture in the name of human rights.
Jenny Peek is a sophomore. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
