Guantánamo Nightmare

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/opinion/sunday/my-guantanamo-nightmare.html?_r=3&ref=opinion

Two points I want to make about above-posted must-read op-ed by victim of the “war on terror” (aka US imperialism), Lakhdar Boumediene, locked away at Guantánamo Bay for seven years, his family thrown into poverty, his world forever changed.

First, George Bush should be arrested and tried for the crimes that were perpetrated against Lakhdar Boumediene and the many others who suffered his fate (or worse). It is hard to imagine that a fair trial would find Bush not guilty of these most serious offenses – false imprisonment, torture, destruction of livelihood, and, in some cases, physical injury and death. These are the actions of a sociopath, and only a successful plea of not guilty by reason of insanity would (not to my mind, though) justify sending him anywhere else but prison for life, along with all his henchmen. I don't think many of my progressive friends will disagree with me about that. If they do, then I wonder about their commitment to rule of law and – not to be insulting – basic moral decency.

Second, if Bush should be punished for the crime of Guantánamo Bay, then what shall we do with Barack Obama for keeping Guantánamo Bay open? Human beings are there still, enduring all the horrors that the Bush Administration visited upon Lakhdar Boumediene and his fellow detainees. Only now it’s the Obama Administration perpetrating the crime Guantánamo Bay. If Guantánamo Bay is a reason for prosecuting George Bush – and I know it is because I can still hear the din of progressives calling for his impeachment over the matter – then why are progressives silent about Barack Obama? It is only wrong to falsely imprison and torture human beings when Republicans do it? If Guantánamo Bay exists whether a Republican or a Democrat is the Commander-in-Chief, then how can a person vote for either party’s nominee?