The Gitmo debate heats up

"The detention facility at Guantanamo Bay has become the gulag of our times, entrenching the practice of arbitrary and indefinite detention in violation of international law." - Amnesty International Report

Gulag - A place or situation of great suffering and hardship, likened to the atmosphere in a prison system or a forced labor camp. (American Heritage Dictionary)

President Bush continues his time-tested strategy of deflecting serious allegations by attacking the messenger. In this case, Amnesty International's meticulously researched and multiple-sourced report on the treatment of detainees has be attacked because the report used the word "gulag". Therefore the Bush administration is under no obligation to answer the substance of the charges. For their part, Amnesty points out that President Bush didn't seem to have a problem with their research or analysis when he was using their reports on human rights in Iraq to justify his war. If Amnesty doesn't use inflammatory language, they're ignored. If they do, they are dismissed as left wing bomb throwers. The choice of wording may be unfortunate, but that doesn't excuse the administration for failing to adhere to the US constitution or the international law to which we are a party. Read more here and here.