Guantanamo Suicides Refocus Spotlight On The Prison

For quite some time, inmates at Guanatamo have tried to commit suicide, but the guards have always been quick to stop them (this isn't a bad thing, of course). Some more disturbing aspects of this have been prisoners on hunger strikes. The guards have taken those prisoners from their cells, strapped them to tables, and forcefed them with tubes (a practice Andrew Sullivan lamented yesterday). However, this past weekend, the first successful suicides at the prison occurred when three prisoners- two Saudis and a Yemeni- hung themselves inside their cells.

Reuters: Suicides fuel more calls for closure of Guantanamo

Guantanamo is a stain on the American legacy; years from now, we will feel nothing but shame for what was done in our name. Its existence- at the very least- is proof that we are not very good at learning the lessons of our own history. The authoritarian cultists who defend the prison want us to believe that everyone inside is a villainous monster (a dubious assertion at best), but if that was the case, then they should be charged with their crimes and moved into our justice system and out of the shadows of the legal and moral blackhole that is Guantanamo Bay.

Meanwhile, a top U.S. official calls the deaths a "good PR move to draw attention" for the prisoners and an "act of asymmetrical warfare" against the United States. Sounds logical. I heard some are planning to break out and hijack planes to crash into their own homes too. Take that United States of America!

Needless to say, the White House is trying to distance themselves from those sentiments. But they cannot. Guantanamo was a White House creation. It is them. They own it and the shame associated with it. In the end, Guantanamo is merely a sympton of the larger disease that is the system of lawlessness and executive monarchy that George W. Bush has surrounded himself with in the name of his war on terror.

Finally, Democracy Now did a great show on this yesterday. Audio available on their site.

[See also previous entry- Secret Prisons: As American As Apple Pie]