Tuesday, May 31, 2005

elementary, my dear: two times two is five

Question:

Amnesty International said you have established "a new gulag" of prisons around the world, beyond the reach of the law and decency. I'd like your reaction to that, and also your assessment of how it came to this, that that is a view not just held by extremists and anti-Americans, but by groups that have allied themselves with the United States government in the past -- and what the strategic impact is that in many places of the world, the United States these days, under your leadership, is no longer seen as the good guy.

Answer:

I'm aware of the Amnesty International report, and it's absurd. It's an absurd allegation. The United States is a country that is -- promotes freedom around the world. When there's accusations made about certain actions by our people, they're fully investigated in a transparent way. It's just an absurd allegation.

In terms of the detainees, we've had thousands of people detained. We've investigated every single complaint against the detainees. It seemed like to me they based some of their decisions on the word of -- and the allegations -- by people who were held in detention, people who hate America, people that had been trained in some instances to disassemble -- that means not tell the truth. And so it was an absurd report. It just is.

If a highschool student answered an essay question at the same literacy level as Bush's reply, they'd be flunked back into elementary school. Not only does he not answer the question, he also manages to look belligerent and stupid in the process.

As for the 'transparent way' in which allegations are investigated, prisoners there have been denied counsel, held without being charged, threatened with lifetime imprisonment without trial, and there have been documented cases of abuse that seem to violate the Geneva Convention.

If they're guilty, and if our system is fundamentally on the side of good, then established processes of law should resolve the issue without requiring shredding the Constitution. Since this administration seeks to sidestep every provision of due process, this means that either the suspects are not guilty, or something is wrong with our process, or we are not on the side of good. Take your pick.

If you're going to be the bad guy, be the bad guy. Pretending to be the good guy while doing evil is fucking weak.