UN Says Close GITMO; US Should Expand It

By Steve Yuhas

Kofi Annan, the beleaguered leader of the United Nations, told an international audience that the Guantanamo, Cuba based detention center holding enemy combatants and others dangerous enough to be held on to during the war on terror should be closed.

Annan defended his position by citing a report by an “independent” UN group designated to look into complaints that the camp operated by the United States was working outside of international norms.  An interesting thing considering that countries like Iran, China and North Korea have roles on independent commissions on human rights while their own records are abysmal, but all of that aside – Annan is wrong.

The UN commission was given the same access to GITMO that any member of Congress is given and would have been treated the same as any other legitimate fact finding team – instead of visiting the camp, though, they decided to base their reports on the statements of lawyers for detainees as well as former detainees themselves.

UN cries to close Guantanamo stem from many who believe that the enemy combatants being detained there are covered under the Geneva Convention: they’re not.  The Geneva Convention is clear on who is and who is not covered and holding a Jihadist captured on the battlefield who was working for himself in the pursuit of a war against the United States does not fall under the criteria of having the rights associated with being considered a prisoner of war.

The UN report calls GITMO a place where torture is used against people who wanted to kill Americans: even if that were true the fact is that the UN has yet to detail what torture is so to come to the conclusion that people are being tortured is a stretch.

People being held at GITMO are being treated better than they were by many of the countries from which they come and have the same accommodations as many military folks would love if he were being held captive.  Indeed: three meals a day, government lawyers for representation, medical care, access to courts, free exercise of religion and a litany of privileges’ not afforded to any Middle Eastern military (except Israel) is more than good treatment for a Jihadist.

Imagine the hypocrisy of the UN calling on the United States to close a camp where more benefits are given to people who are not entitled to them while staying silent about the camps inside places like China and North Korea where forced laborers make goods for an ever increasing army.  The UN is equally silent when barbarians holding a Koran and yelling for Allah make a video of the decapitation of one of their prisoners – where are the calls to end the anti-Semitic cartoons or mistreatment of Westerners by the UN?

The UN looks at the United States as the enemy of the world when it is the United States that not only funds the majority of programs at the UN, but feeds the most people and provides the most foreign aid to states that have outwardly hostile policies against us all in the name of humanity.  The UN hates America (and many Americans hate the UN), but at least the United States is open and allowed the UN access – something completely not allowed when looking at the oil for food scandal that rocked the international body and ended at the door of the Secretary General.

The United States has a responsibility to making sure that those who want to kill us are rounded up and put somewhere so they cannot plot or cause us harm.  GITMO is that place and whether the UN likes it or not is of no consequence because when it comes to our national security it is not for a committee of UN workers to decide where we store them; it is up for our elected leaders and so far people from both parties agreed on GITMO. 

The United States should make a deal with the UN: we will close GITMO when all of the UN membership agrees to what torture is and comes up with a definition of terrorism.  That should not be hard to do considering they use the words to accuse the United States every day, but if history is any guide our grandchildren will see never see those words defined.

The United States rightfully shrugged off calls to close the facility within minutes of them being made noting that GITMO is legal and that the people there have no rights under the Geneva Convention because they belong to no signatory of the treaty.  This is a new war and one of the things the UN and regular folks have to understand is that when fighting a new war one cannot look at the doctrine of the passed to fight it. 

Perhaps if the UN did not encourage ambiguity in the definitions of what torture and terrorism is the people at GITMO would be even happier than they already are, but with recidivism and people being released only to return to GITMO afterwards after being caught trying to kill American troops again – I say don’t close the place down – expand it.

Steve Yuhas is a columnist and radio talk show host on KOGO AM 600 and may be reached at www.steveyuhas.com or steve@steveyuhas.com