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Donald Trump has signed an executive order to keep the Guantánamo Bay prison camp open, reversing the policy of the Obama administration.
In his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, Trump said he had directed the defence secretary, James Mattis, "to re-examine our military detention policy and to keep open the detention facilities at Guantánamo Bay". He added that he expected that "in many cases" captured terrorists would be sent to the camp.
The Trump executive order instructs Mattis, in consultation with the secretary of state and other officials, to deliver a new policy on battlefield detentions, "including policies governing transfer of individuals to US Naval Station Guantánamo Bay" within 90 days.
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Donald Trump Signs Executive Order to Keep Guantánamo Bay Open
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I'm mentally OVERDRAWN! What's that SIGNPOST up ahead? Where's ROD
STERLING when you really need him?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Thexalon on Friday February 02 2018, @03:08AM (3 children)
There are lots of Americans, some of whom are on SN, who think that there ain't no such thing as a Muslim who isn't a terrorist. And from that, they conclude, the way to solve the terrorism problem is to kill or at least lock up each and every Muslim they can get their hands on. Well, maybe torture a few of 'em, just for fun - I mean, ostensibly for intelligence-gathering, but since it's well-known that torture doesn't actually help gather intelligence, it's really just for fun.
It's exactly the same kind of thinking that has led to every genocide in human history. "If we just get rid of the Catholics, that will fix everything." "If we just get rid of the Protestants, that will fix everything." "If we just get rid of the American Indians, that will fix everything." "If we just get rid of the Armenians, that will fix everything." "If we just get rid of the Jews, that will fix everything." "If we just get rid of the Arabs, that will fix everything." "If we just get rid of the Tutsis, that will fix everything." The name of the group changes, the impulse and the results don't: These are people that aren't smart enough to think of any other solution than killing a lot of people, so they do everything in their power to kill a lot of people.
And in some ways, the worst part is that they don't even succeed in fixing the problems they claim they're going to solve by killing a lot of people.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 02 2018, @05:05AM (2 children)
For all of life, not even just human, the rule is "kill or be killed".
Given enough stress, normal humans will participate in genocide. This reaction is burned into our DNA. Those without it are lacking evolutionary fitness and will ultimately be selected against.
It doesn't solve everything, but it solves a lot of things. Ever wonder why we got so many different distinct cultures? Weirdos were killed.
There is something special about Islam that makes it clearly different. It is easy and normal to declare that somebody with very slightly different beliefs is an infidel, and then of course the religion requires that they be subdued and ideally exterminated. It is thus impossible for muslims to have even a moment of peace. The non-muslims can sometimes calm down and find something non-violent to do.
(Score: 2) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Friday February 02 2018, @10:29AM
So much fail.
1 - Yes, genocide does seem to be a human instinct, under certain conditions. Yes, it is almost certainly an evolutionary thing that has been selected for over millions of years of tribal competition. but NO, that does not make it necessary, or desirable, or even acceptable today. Put it this way: Chances are, you carry genes of a rapist somewhere in your DNA. Somewhen back in the distant or not so distant past there's a very good chance that some ancestor of yours sired some other ancestor by raping a woman. It happened a lot in the past, and the awful truth is, you wouldn't exist without that act. Does that make rape OK? Would you support the rape of your mother or daughter just because "hey, it's burned into our DNA"? No, of course not. We strive to be better than our biological impulses.
Interestingly enough, research shows that people find it easier to rise above their worst instincts when they have secure and comfortable lives. So you know what is more likely to turn somebody into a genocidal tool? Invading their country, branding them a terrorist, discriminating against them, abducting and torturing them etc etc etc.
What's your excuse?
2.
This is a lie. Put down the Breitbart / Stormfront. There are orders of magnitude more peace-loving Muslims out there than infidel-killing dicks, and I suspect you know that. You just choose to ignore it because simply branding them all "unworthy of life" requires less brainpower.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Friday February 02 2018, @03:25PM
The following religious viewpoints are known to have had that viewpoint at some point in their history:
- Judaism
- Roman paganism
- Celtic paganism
- Norse paganism
- Catholicism
- Eastern Orthodox
- Protestantism
- Buddhism
- Shinto
- Hinduism
- atheism (I know, it's not a religion, but there have been anti-religious zealots who've tried to murder everyone who didn't give up their religion)
Which makes tiny minority of Muslims who support violence to spread their faith the rule, not the exception.
The only religions that have never been used to justify violence are the absolute pacifist ones, such as Quakerism, Jainism, and Baha'i. Partial credit also goes to religions that only allow their people to fight in immediate self-defense, such as Jehovah's Witnesses and Sikhs.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.