Reader Responses

So this is it? For years the world has seen Gitmo photographs of naked men being tormented and stories of torture techniques for which the United States prosecuted and executed Nazi war criminals.

Our argument has been: "That's what 24's Jack Bauer would have done to save us from terror. Surely the guys we have been holding without hope of release, or even a trial, were the really bad guys who were responsible for planning and carrying out bombings and acts of mutilation."

Then the guy we try first is a car driver/mechanic employee, father of two and possessor of a fourth grade education who hasn't killed or mutilated anyone. He has been a prisoner five years and only received a trial after many attempts by our president to stop it. A jury of six military officers found him guilty of supporting al-Qaida by driving bin Laden and carrying weapons in the car he drove, but found him not guilty of terror conspiracy.

His sentence is about the same length of time he has served, but Bush is arguing he should be kept locked up for an indeterminate amount of time anyway. Wasn't there someone at Gitmo the government could have tried who did something really evil?

Is there some way the critics of the U.S. could have gotten any more political ammunition against us than this guy being the first example of the Gitmo prisoners we didn't want to give a trial? Jack Bauer would have never messed with a driver/mechanic who obviously was outside the terror loop.

Blake Bailey
Tyler