Saturday was the third anniversary of the war in Iraq and was marked, as you might expect, by marches and vigils in the more liberal corners of our liberal Commonwealth. Today, the Globe reports that "a small but crucial number" of Guantanamo detainees - many of whom have been there since before the Iraq war began, make up a "hard-core group of firebrands" who have "called down the wrath of God on U.S. officials." And on Friday, Bostonist heard a story on NPR about how the U.S. is being forced to defend its treatment of the Guantanamo detainees, including force-feeding them to keep them alive.
All of this got us to thinking about something that isn't exactly news, but maybe bears repeating: Our government has been holding hundreds of people in prison without any charges for over three years. Most of them probably haven't even done anything wrong. They have no idea when, if ever, they will leave, and we won't even let them commit suicide by starvation. Bostonist hates to get all preachy on you on a Monday, but holy shit. Three years in prison is no joke under any circumstances, but three years in prison when you've never been charged with a crime (let alone convicted) and have no idea when you'll get out is absolutely fucking immoral.
Bostonist remembers when we were in history class in high school, learning about how our government put Japanese-Americans in concentration camps during World War II. We thought, "Damn, if that happened in our day, we wouldn't stand for it." We are beginning to think it's happening, and we're trying to figure out what the hell to do. Any suggestions, dear readers?
Prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. Photo courtesy of Amnesty International.
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