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BAY AREA Berkeley does Guantanamo

jamesrage

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i guess these hippies do not believe that every inmate at gitmo is some poor farmer or or sheep herder picked up by mean ol soldiers with nothing else better to do.


BAY AREA / Berkeley does Guantanamo
On Tuesday, on the recommendation of its Peace and Justice Commission, the Berkeley City Council is set to vote on a resolution to invite "one or two cleared" Guantanamo Bay detainees to resettle in Berkeley.

Peace and Justice Commissioner Rita Maran told me that the idea was to invite to Berkeley "the kind of people you'd like to have living next door to you or dating your cousin."

While the resolution doesn't name the one or two detainees, her panel presented material that cites two - Russian-born Ravil Mingazov and Algerian-born Djamel Ameziane - whom it claims have been "cleared." The resolution also asserts that "cleared" detainees have been determined to "pose no threat to the United States." Where they got that information, I do not know.

Given that the Director of National Intelligence reported in December that 25 percent of released Gitmo detainees have been confirmed or suspected of engaging in terrorism, the commission's assertion would not be reassuring, if it were true.

As Thomas Joscelyn, senior fellow for the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies observed, "There's an entire mythology" about detainees being exonerated, when they've simply won conditional releases or habeas corpus petitions.

President Obama's own task force looked into Guantanamo's 240 detainees in 2009. While it approved some transfers and conditional releases, Joscelyn noted, "They didn't find any innocent goat herders."

Here's another warning sign: resume makeovers. (Remember "Osama bin Laden's cook"? Ahmed Ghailani was convicted for his role in the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Africa.) The Center for Constitutional Rights lists Ameziane's interests as "reading mystery novels and French fashion magazines for men." He's a chef, the group explains, who worked in Vienna but was forced to migrate to Montreal and then to - the culinary capital of? - Afghanistan.

Read more: BAY AREA / Berkeley does Guantanamo
 
i guess these hippies do not believe that every inmate at gitmo is some poor farmer or or sheep herder picked up by mean ol soldiers with nothing else better to do.


BAY AREA / Berkeley does Guantanamo
On Tuesday, on the recommendation of its Peace and Justice Commission, the Berkeley City Council is set to vote on a resolution to invite "one or two cleared" Guantanamo Bay detainees to resettle in Berkeley.

Peace and Justice Commissioner Rita Maran told me that the idea was to invite to Berkeley "the kind of people you'd like to have living next door to you or dating your cousin."

While the resolution doesn't name the one or two detainees, her panel presented material that cites two - Russian-born Ravil Mingazov and Algerian-born Djamel Ameziane - whom it claims have been "cleared." The resolution also asserts that "cleared" detainees have been determined to "pose no threat to the United States." Where they got that information, I do not know.

Given that the Director of National Intelligence reported in December that 25 percent of released Gitmo detainees have been confirmed or suspected of engaging in terrorism, the commission's assertion would not be reassuring, if it were true.

As Thomas Joscelyn, senior fellow for the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies observed, "There's an entire mythology" about detainees being exonerated, when they've simply won conditional releases or habeas corpus petitions.

President Obama's own task force looked into Guantanamo's 240 detainees in 2009. While it approved some transfers and conditional releases, Joscelyn noted, "They didn't find any innocent goat herders."

Here's another warning sign: resume makeovers. (Remember "Osama bin Laden's cook"? Ahmed Ghailani was convicted for his role in the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Africa.) The Center for Constitutional Rights lists Ameziane's interests as "reading mystery novels and French fashion magazines for men." He's a chef, the group explains, who worked in Vienna but was forced to migrate to Montreal and then to - the culinary capital of? - Afghanistan.

Read more: BAY AREA / Berkeley does Guantanamo

Too much medical marijuana.

And Guantanamo... they're still reporting about Gitmo? Since when?

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Berkeley is right next to Oakland which has tons of people who actually have been convicted of violent crimes. Only a coward would be frightened of some people who might be dangerous. Living in an open society means that you don't get lock people away without a trial because you don't have the guts to accept the consequences of freedom.
 
i guess these hippies do not believe that every inmate at gitmo is some poor farmer or or sheep herder picked up by mean ol soldiers with nothing else better to do.

And I guess you believe none of them were. When Dick Cheney says someone is guilty, what more reason is needed to torture them and hold them indefinitely? Up is down, slavery is freedom, ignorance is strength.

Peace and Justice Commissioner Rita Maran told me that the idea was to invite to Berkeley "the kind of people you'd like to have living next door to you or dating your cousin."

And not everyone who is a victim is necessarily a great person, capice?

The resolution also asserts that "cleared" detainees have been determined to "pose no threat to the United States." Where they got that information, I do not know.

You also don't know where the information came from that made them suspects in the first place, but you evidently believe that implicitly. Why do you resent Berkeley for standing up for American values?

Given that the Director of National Intelligence reported in December that 25 percent of released Gitmo detainees have been confirmed or suspected of engaging in terrorism, the commission's assertion would not be reassuring, if it were true.

Given that they were tortured for years on end, I think anyone who is still willing to give this country a chance ought to be considered for sainthood. I'm sure anyone whom the (in)security establishment considers a threat will be monitored regardless of the law or lack of rational justification, so I don't see what possible purpose you have for concern.

As Thomas Joscelyn, senior fellow for the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies observed, "There's an entire mythology" about detainees being exonerated, when they've simply won conditional releases or habeas corpus petitions.

In this country, people are innocent until proven guilty. If you don't like it, you are welcome to leave and sell your house to a Guantanamo victim.

President Obama's own task force looked into Guantanamo's 240 detainees in 2009. While it approved some transfers and conditional releases, Joscelyn noted, "They didn't find any innocent goat herders."

It's plausible that there were none remaining by 2009 - most were released a few years after being abducted, and although it's unclear if any of those murdered in custody were innocent of terrorism involvement, the possibility can't be ruled out.

Here's another warning sign: resume makeovers.

Yeah, real terrifying. Much more frightening than the Jared Lee Loughner crowd who now have people in Congress and at least one Senator.
 
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