Amnesty International and Reprieve have asked the UK Government to intervene in the hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay. Presently, at least six UK residents are among 250 detainees at the base who are refusing food. The human rights groups state that some detainees are being restrained and force-fed. They want ministers to seek a US pledge to allow independent observers access to the detainees, who are being held without trial or being charged. The call came as US senators voted overwhelmingly to outlaw cruel or degrading treatment of detainees held in US custody abroad. Unfortunately, it is my belief that our Government will sit on its hands and do nothing to upset the Administration.
However, it is the vote in the Senate by 90 votes to 9 to outlaw cruel or degrading treatment of detainees held in US custody abroad that is the small light. Of course, President Bush opposes it, and says he will veto it when it come to him for ratification. Presumably cruel or degrading treatment of detainees is a Christian value that he needs to uphold, but with so much support for this amendment to the Pentagon Funding Bill, he is going to find it hard to defeat these servants of the Devil who are trying to thwart God's plan to humiliate the vulnerable!
apparently the amendment was proposed by Republican Senator John McCain, so maybe that Bush's excesses are too much even for regular Republicans. Or possibly, and here my knowledge of American politicians deserts me, Republicans are now positioning themselves for the next Presidential race in a couple of years time and are trying to put some clear water between themselves and the Bush Administration; but for me, the time has come for the greatest nation in the World to end and put this shameful episode behind them. This behaviour reflects on us all.
4 comments:
I hope people in the UK know that most Americans despise the man who is called our president. if he were to run today, no doubt he'd lose.
John McCain seems to be a stand up guy. Hopefully he'll run in '08 and we can try & get back what we lost with the Bush regime.
And I hope that people in the UK, and the world, understand that the majority of the people in this country did not vote that war criminal into office. Our country was stolen from us...but we will get it back...and we will show the world once again that we are that light on the hill when we bring them to justice.
John McCain is indeed positioning himself for to be as presidential candidate in 2007. His uncompromising stance on torture is one indication of many things that are good and remarkable about him (another is his willingness to take science fact seriously). But don't take him for a progressive/leftist. He is a combination of maverick and old-style Republican
For quite some time, people in the UK saw him as a figure of fun, but it is now far too serious for that, and I do believe that most of us know you need a change. Would love it to be a democrat, but from this side of the pond, we can't see who we should be getting behind. Any ideas!
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