Mark, I'm usually totally with you, but aren't you forgetting that these people that are being held in "indefinite detention" have NOT been found guilty of anything in a court of law and so are NOT "terrorists". You made the same mistake as the rest of these bubble-headed news media jerks that love labeling oogey-boogey, scary fer'ners that aren't like them -- i.e. "real" Americans. You know, those "God Delusion" adherent sheeple that have the red, white and blue stuck up their asses, that preach tolerance and Christian values but have no qualms about dropping bombs on you from 20,000 feet if you don't bow down to the wishes of the power elite back in the good ol' "U.S. of A., Inc.". Those "real" Americans!

So, whatever happened to the notion of habeas corpus? Whatever happened to the notion of due process? Whatever happened to the notion that a suspect is innocent until proven guilty? Most of these poor, unlucky bastards being held in Guantanamo Bay, are there because they were turned in by local strongmen chieftains for a reward that Uncle Sam offered for any al Qaeda "terrorists". These poor guys are nothing more than shepherds and taxi drivers (See "Taxi To The Dark Side") that were unlucky to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and are now, still, being held indefinitely WITHOUT trial for the rest of their poor, miserable, unlucky lives, it would seem.

Whatever happened to international law? Whatever happened to being bound by international treaties, including the Geneva Conventions? Just re-branding "enemy soldiers" as "enemy combatants" they think they can somehow make the law not applicable to these prisoners. That's totally absurd! The USA wants things both ways. So, if the USA doesn't declare "WAR" anymore, how then can those that it fights and doesn't kill outright, but rather capture as prisoners, ever be called "prisoners of war" when "WAR" was never declared?

This re-branding tactic was also used in specifically choosing Guantanamo Bay as the location for the prison to hold these prisoners. They claim it isn't U.S. soil, so then U.S. law doesn't apply there. Really? Then why are embassies all over the world (including U.S. ones) considered the soil of that particular country? They again want to eat their cake and have it, too.

Sadly, the Inquisition has been reborn in the 21st century and by, ironically, the country that touts itself as being "the beacon of freedom in the world", the country that tried Nazis for war crimes at Nuremberg and vowed "never again". Yet, incredibly, here we are. Torture has been made legal by fiat, by re-branding it "enhanced interrogation" and dehumanizing people by calling them "terrorists". How these people in the U.S. Congress that approved George W. Bush's and his minions' methods for these extreme measures of "enhanced interrogation" and then turned a blind eye to it all (and still do). How they can live with themselves or how they can sleep at night, is beyond comprehension.

See "Taxi To The Dark Side" on DVD or on Google Video:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2987535946644608661
(Ignore the little swipe at NATO, that the uploader of the video on Google Video added before the actual movie begins. The movie "Taxi To The Dark Side" itself, is EXCELLENT! It won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature for that year.)

See "Torturing Democracy". Full program at their website: http://www.TorturingDemocracy.org/
(This documentary is also EXCELLENT!)

Actually, should have proof-read that last post.

The Napoleonic code was the civil code. The rules of evidence in UCMJ are Napoleonic in origin, but not part of the 'Napoleonic code'.

A preemptive correction, just in case some history buff is reading. :)

Well, Pooh is going to fly off the handle again, but here goes...

I'm trying to get into the head of a fellow who puts out no fewer than three Sammy Lil'shiv cartoons--bemoaning the state of America's violent, overcrowded and increasingly privatized penitentiaries--and then advocates for these penitentiaries to become increasingly overcrowded, violent, and privatized.

Have the people commenting here not considered that US federal prisons are a worse environment for quasi-convicted terrorists than sunny Guantanamo?

Let us consider the story of Mark and the Genie.

A fellow named Mark finds a genie who will grant him one wish. Being civil-minded on that particular day, Mark wishes, "I wish every occupant of Guantanamo will be fairly tried and sent where they belong: home, or a US prison."

Poof! His wish is granted. Immediately, 20 million dollars is pulled out of the education system and given to a battery of lawyers to conduct the trials. They bicker. They lawyer. Ordinarily, maybe ten out of a thousand terrorists are convicted. Why? Well, naturally, all of the forensic evidence is lost in the middle of a freakin' war zone and Gil Grissom was a bit peakish about going in. Any US Soldiers' testimony is ruled inadmissible. Iraq/Afghan soldiers' character testimonials might be ruled as admissible, save for the notable fact that the only character witnesses are MIA in Iraq, blown to smithereens, or also incarcerated.

But Mark had wished for 'fair' trials, and so the judge magically rules fairly in all cases: 280 individuals to be released, and 720 to be incarcerated in US prisons.

The 280 are shipped back to Iraq to live out their lives or be blown up by botched US missile strikes.

The 720? Well, following Mark's wish, another 90K per year per prisoner (or 68.4 million per year) is pulled out of the education system to fund the feeding, clothing, sheltering, guarding, medicating, administrating and legalezing of the guilty prisoners. Really, a small price to pay for giving Mark the sadistic enjoyment of watching them "rot away in obscurity" over the next 70 years.

These happy 720 individuals are stuffed into Sammy Lil'shiv's wonderful paradise, where (being convicted Arab terrorists) they enjoy especially lenient treatment from the other inmates. Benefits include having their Koran shoved down their throat rather than the toilet; having their throats slit with a shiv rather than having to endure 'stress positions'; and, of course, the wonderful sodomistic company of white supremacists, prison gangs, and fellow Iraqis from competing Islamic sects.

As they are shivved, raped and tormented over the next 1xx years in overcrowded conditions, with no hope of parole for at least 2x years, Mark feels a tug at his heart that maybe having them "rot away in obscurity" wasn't quite the humanistic venture he once thought it was. Especially since the 720 individuals he 'saved' seem to be writing to friends, family, the media, and anybody who will listen that America is nothing more than a nation of infidels that enjoy watching enemies being shivved, raped, and condemned to rot away in obscurity.

But wait! Mark thinks. The education system isn't completely bankrupt yet! We can still make this work!

Mark petitions the city. He petitions the governor. He has a mauve ribbon 'campaign for compassion' on national TV. Success! After five years, the government relents. They'll build a special 'rehabilitation' prison for the 720 inmates. Naturally, following Sammy Lil'shiv's advice, they give the contract to "Blackheart", the nation's top private security firm. For the low, low price of 140 million for the building, 20 million for administration, lawyering, transfer, and of course an additional 20K per year per prisoner to make up the profit margin (a pittance at 14.4 million per year), the shell-shocked prisoners are moved into their new home. We'll call it 'Californimo'. Here, they are allowed to read their Korans, pray, eat three squares a day, and sit around "rotting in obscurity". Mark couldn't be happier.

With his humanistic mission accomplished at Calfmo, Mark moves on to fighting the social injustice of a criminally underfunded public education system. This year alone they've slashed 235 million from the budget, and they're planning on permanently slashing another 83 million per year for some unholy reason. Scandal! Mark figures that somebody else must've gotten a hold of the genie and made a really freakin' stupid wish.

Hence, our story ends. Gitmo is shut down. The 50 million per year operating budget is immediately reappropriated by the Pentagon for buying 'smarter' cruise missiles that hopefully won't blow up quite as many of the 280 Iraqis that Mark managed to save. Calfmo runs smoothly, with "Blackheart" execs reaping wondrous profits right up until the time that the US dollar collapses.

And most importantly, Mark goes to sleep at night dreaming of the horrors of capital punishment, the joy of knowing that men are rotting away in obscurity, and wondering why the public schools in his state now rank lower than those in Iran.

Thanks for the good intentions, at any rate.

Regards,

COTO

P.S. Since I've been accused of not explicitly offering alternative solutions--here's the alternative solution:

1. Try every occupant of Guantanamo Bay under military law (which is, by and large, a holdover from the Napoleonic code).
2. Prisoners found guilty of a capital crime are immediately executed by firing squad with no chance for appeal.
3. Prisoners not accused of a capital crime or that are found not guilty are returned to Iraq and given exactly one year's wages per their trade.
4. Guantanamo bay is shut down. "New" prisoners are tried, executed, or released in Iraq by an on-site tribunal.

Great stuff. The reactionaries' implication that putting (alleged) terrorists in US prisons is tantamount to setting them loose on our streets, is an insult to our correctional institutions and officers. Yet another reason these dipsticks ought to be ashamed of themselves.

the whole issue is ludicrous!
but your point is well-made; politicians and media-flaks are in a snit about putting them in US prisons; yet the entire town of Hardin, Montana is lobbying like crazy to take the entire lot!
if it wasn't so preposterous, it would be a laugh. I almost hope that the bogeys in that FL prison escape and take swim in Limburger's pool.

So where are all the dittoheads? I expected them to be foaming at the mouth already... (or is your captcha too complicated for them...) As always, you are right on target...

--rjnerd

This was so FUNNY. Talk about knee-jerk reactions. Anyway, how about the legislators who refuse to acknowledge the US should have the integrity to incarcerate and hold the very "criminals" it considers to be guilty?

Wait - WHAT are Rush and the more legitimate spokespersons of any party afraid of? Seriously. Are "wusses" afraid that incarceration of international criminals in the US lands requires compliance with US laws? Is THAT the fear factor here? ... Please advise with a future cartoon. LOL! (love your work)

Love your animations...posted about your stuff on my blog. Keep it up.

beartoons.com

Actually, they're only *alleged* terrorists. Most of them are probably innocent people who were kidnapped off the streets.

The new one is up! Are you tough or a wuss? -MF