Shut ‘Er Down
Another group of folks what hates Amurka and wants the terrists to win is speaking up.
ATHENS, Ga. (AP)—Five former U.S. secretaries of state on Thursday urged the next presidential administration to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp and open a dialogue with Iran.
The former chiefs of American diplomacy, who served in Democratic and Republican administrations, reached a consensus on the two issues at a conference in Athens aimed at giving the next president some bipartisan foreign policy advice. Each of them said shuttering the prison camp in Cuba would bolster America’s image abroad.
“It says to the world: ‘We are now going back to our traditional respective forms of dealing with people who potentially committed crimes,’” said Colin Powell, who served as President Bush’s first secretary of state.
Powell was joined by Henry Kissinger, James Baker III, Warren Christopher and Madeleine Albright, who sat in a round-table discussion sponsored by the University of Georgia at a sold-out conference center in downtown Athens.
Kissinger called Guantanamo a “blot on us” and agreed it should be closed, but wondered aloud about the consequences of a closure.
Baker, a lawyer who served in President George H.W. Bush’s Cabinet, said he has struggled with its legal implications.
“It gives us a very, very bad name, not just internationally,” he said. “I have a great deal of difficulty understanding how we can hold someone, pick someone up, particularly someone who might be an American citizen - even if they were caught somewhere abroad, acting against American interests - and hold them without ever giving them an opportunity to appear before a magistrate.”
The former secretaries of state also urged that the U.S. open a line of dialogue with Iran, each saying it is important to maintain contact with adversaries and allies alike.
I could do without Madeline Albright, but Kissinger, Powell and Baker-yeah, those durn libruls what don’t understand grit.
Comments
Yeah, because Colin Powell and James Baker are career diplomats. Not to mention John McCain said the same thing a couple years back.
Amazing how easy it is for some here to dismiss anything that goes against “nuke ‘em ‘til they glow, then shoot ‘em in the dark”, isn’t it? You folks won’t even consider alternatives. Not even when they come from your own party.
"You folks”? I think you assume too much about me dwex. I certainly see the diplomatic value of closing the prison camp at Guantanamo (closing the entire base would be stupid). But talking with Dinnerjacket would be a bad move, but it doesn’t surprise me that a bunch of diplomats are calling for diplomatic talks. Try someone else to pigeonhole.
Powell and Baker-yeah, those durn libruls what don’t understand grit.
{sigh} I understand your effusiveness in trying to be more like the big guy, but using these silly euphemisms, even incorrectly, borders on maudlin.
This falls into the catagory of deferring to those smarter than myself. Closing the prison, not the Marine base, was never a big issue for me, but when so many smart people think its a good idea (excluding Christopher and Albright, they hold zero sway with me) than I am wiling to consider it. My main concern was housing these people on American soil. How about they build a prison on Diego Garcia? I could live with that.
Talking to Mr. holocaust denier is another matter, but I beleive McCain has the foreign policy chops to give it its just due.
Diego Garcia
Isn’t Diego Garcia a UK protectorate (or some-such) that we just happen to use as a staging area for long-range bombers?
Talking to Mr. holocaust denier is another matter, but I beleive McCain has the foreign policy chops to give it its just due.
Exactly. This is one of those where I agree with Obama’s position - we should talk to this guy - while feeling he’s the last person I’d actually want to have in that role. McCain would be good for that role.
Wouldn’t it be funny if McCain asked Powell to be his SecState?
Isn’t Diego Garcia a UK protectorate (or some-such) that we just happen to use as a staging area for long-range bombers?
Um yes, the military base there is jointly owned by both the UK and the US. It is large enough to build a prison on, remote enough to satisfy people like me, and becasue the actual island is UK owned it would lend some coalition legitimacy.
Kissinger could croak any time. Powell has to somehow clean the stink of Iraq off his hands, and Baker...well, surely he doesn’t think there’s money to be made here somewhere…
RTFLC Contributors,
Please enlighten me. While I’ve been a reader for awhile and agree with a lot of the various opinions expressed here, I’m confused as to the “durn terrist,” “durn librul” type of stuff. Are you people making fun of folks that agree with the opinions related to those comments or is it just a dig at Bush? Either way, it’s getting old. I think the points can be made without rehashing a joke that isn’t that funny to begin with. Maybe just get some new material. I’m not sensitive about it or anything, I just think your doing yourselves a disservice.
Other than that, keep up the good work.
It’s something Lee came up with, to make a point about the simplistic views often associated with the WOT-"Alla them Moose Limbs is nuthin’ but a buncha durn terrists what need killin’,” that sort of thing.
I get it, but ... you know.
A group of diplomats believe in a diplomatic solution. Go figure.