Sophists, in a historical sense, were ancient Greeks who practiced logic and argument to promote specific causes. In the beginning they practiced these skills for the promotion of knowledge and understanding. Later on, the term came to denote a negative trait, persons who practiced specious argument with the intent of deceiving and covering up the paths to false conclusions.
We have sophists today. There is a sizable population of them sitting in our courts. Today several were revealed on the highest court in the land as the Supreme court ruled that prisoners in Guantanamo have recourse in American courts.
Never in American history have enemy combatants been accorded this sort of protection. IN 1942 eight Germans were delivered to America by submarine with the intention that they would sabotage the American war effort. They were captured, tried NOT AS CRIMINALS, but as enemy combatants, but a military tribunal.
This isn’t a cleanly-drawn line. In previous wars, the enemy wore uniforms and was subject to orders from a responsible hierarchy.On the battlefields of yesteryear, uniforms marked the combatants, and surrender was taken and accepted, for the most part, as a demarkation in a soldier’s transition from fighter to prisoner. A commander or leader could dictate surrender for those under him, and it was accepted, again, for the most part, as the end of hostilities.
Today’s war lacks these refinements of the bygone age. Our enemy doesn’t play by those rules. There are no uniforms. What heirarchy that exists is loose and lacking in positive control. If a ‘leader’ surrenders or softens his stance, he’s replaced by the next up and ocming radical in the group. We saw that when Yassir Arafat became a ‘statesman’ for the Palestinians. He no longer openly advocated murder and terror, but the Palestinians had numerous volunteers to step up and foment bloodshed against their enemies in his stead.
This is what we face with the thugs at Guantanamo. They are not there as ‘punishment’ or for ‘rehabilitation’. They are there because they intend to do us harm. This isn’t the POWS from Italy or German in WW II with the war over, going home to rebuild their countries. These people are haters of America, and if they had access to the weapons to do so, they’d lay American cities to waste under radioactive clouds.
And we have the Supreme Court wanting to treat them like they just ran out of the corner store without paying for a twelve-pack.
Wars are supposed to be fought by soldiers led by generals. Now we want our wars fought by soldiers led by lawyers. We just as well try to run a marathon wearing leg weights.
Wonderful post, and a great final sentence.
Habeus is one of the most basic rights–This isn’t giving them the full rights of a criminal trial, it gives you or me the chance to convince a judge that we get those rights. To do that, we also have to give the detainees that right, else the government can just say “Yeah, he claims to be Mostly Cajun, but he’s an enemy combatant. Trust us, he’s evil, and doesn’t deserve due process. No, you can’t see his fingerprints.”
This doesn’t mean that the government has to prove their case in entirety, just that they aren’t abusing the process.
Those “enemy combatents” do NOT follow the rules of the Geneva Conventions. They DON’T wear identifiable uniforms reprresented a country, they DELIBERATELY target civilians, … in short, they are hence NOT entitled to ANY protection of the Geneva Conventions.
I say we shoot the lot of them and be done with it. We can’t just let them go because they’ll eventually get around to attacking us again.
But perhaps to mollify the lefties we can just let them go. Of course, the way I’d release them would be to take them on a ship, then throw them in the ocean at least 100 miles from the nearest land. If they can swim to land, then they can live! If they can’t swim that far, well fish gotta eat too, don’t they!? Of boutse, that would for sure violate some kind of EPA regulation about polluting the water, I reckon.
chicopanther
Some of those Germans were American citizens too.
There has to be some rules about this and the Congress deliberated on this and passed a law. SCOTUS just overstepped their power here.
I still say an impeachment or two would clear their minds. What other weapon does the citizenry have to rein them in?
One of the most rediculous rulings ever handed down by te Supreme Court. The names of those who were in the majority will remembered for a long, long time and it won’t be with kindness.
Hell in a Handbasket…….. that’s were we seem to be headed.
No good deed goes unpunished.
Close Club Gitmo, ship them back to the unspecified CIA prisons in paradise spots like Egypt or Saudi Arabia, and don’t take any more prisoners. We don’t need any more of them anyway.
“Kill them all. God will know his own.”