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Donald Trump Signs Executive Order to Keep Guantánamo Bay Open

posted by martyb on Thursday February 01 2018, @08:49AM   
from the indefinite-detention dept.

DeathMonkey writes:

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.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/30/guantanamo-bay-trump-signs-executive-order-to-keep-prison-open

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Original Submission

• reality check reality check (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 02 2018, @05:05AM (2 children)

  by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 02 2018, @05:05AM (#631893)

  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.

  Parent

• Re:reality check (Score: 2) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Friday February 02 2018, @10:29AM

  by GreatAuntAnesthesia (3275) on Friday February 02 2018, @10:29AM (#631938) Journal

  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.

  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.

  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.

  Parent

• Re:reality check (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Friday February 02 2018, @03:25PM

  by Thexalon (636) on Friday February 02 2018, @03:25PM (#632018)

  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.

  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.

  Parent