Taylor Westlake
January 22, 2009
9:54 pm
Now that there is a new President we expect that changes will be made, but I'm not sure if everyone saw this change. Today, during a ceremony at the White House President Obama signed an order wanting to shut down detention camps such as Guantánamo Bay within a year. The reason why this order was signed is because there has been accusations about prisoners being tortured. Even though Obama has decided to end Guantánamo Bay he is still undecided with what to do with the prisoners because they hesitate to bring them onto American territory and he wants to make sure that when they are moved to other prisons they are not tortured. Obama feels as if we have not been following our own rules, which would be the nineteen interrogation methods for prisoners. Instead, we have been known to do other things to make the prisoners confess, such as torturing them, and that is just not right nor is it following the rules that we have set for a reason. Some people look at Obamas plan as a good thing, something that will help America, and yet others look upon it as we're signing up for something that does not seem realistic. Republican Peter Hoekstra says that, he stated that Obamas decision is "placing hope ahead of reality-it sets an objective without a plan to get there."
My take on this is that Obama is right, we should be following the rules that we have set and torturing is not one of them. I believe that in a way his action to close down Guantánamo Bay is alerting. We need to take more action what is wrong and know that the terrorists that are in captivity did wrong, but because of who they are does not mean that they are treated the way that they treated others. My worries is that they need to know where they are going to put the prisoners. We need to have a plan before we can take affirmative action in the upcoming year. Sure, maybe we can send some of them to other countries but what if the prisons in those countries torture them, that is not right. We would just be putting them in the same situation as before. But yet, we would not want to bring them to America, the place where they attacked, it would be unsafe.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/us/politics/23GITMOCND.html?pagewanted=2&hp
2 comments:
I also believe that its a good idea to shut down these places, especially Guantanamo Bay, that has been so famous for torturing its prisoners, I agree that Obama wants to follow the rules because he wants America to be that great power that it has always been but this obviously is not possible with all the hypocrisies. This will also be a great way to restore the foreign relation ships, and the American reputation that has been damaged severely especially since the beginning of the war in Iraq.
I have several things to say regarding this issue. First, I would love to know exactly where he plans on sending these prisoners. Moving convicted terrorists to American prisons on American soil is hardly recommended or wise. Secondly, on what grounds is he closing down Guantanamo Bay? I am simply not convinced that his reasons are justifiable for such drastic action. Torture is terrible, yes I agree, but water boarding does no long term physical damage to prisoners. Is it worth their temporary discomfort to spare the lives of hundreds, perhaps thousands of people? (Haven't you ever seen 24?! You can laugh; that's a joke)...I'm not suggesting that in all situations the ends justify the means, however, before the president takes such a dramatic action he should consider all the consequences associated with this decision.
Furthermore, I'd like to point out a few historical facts concerning executive orders. During the first week of office, the following numbers represent the number of executive orders made by the presidents during their first week of office: president Carter, 1: George H.W. Bush, 0: Bill Clinton, 1: George W. Bush, 0. Barack Obama on the first DAY, 5. I understand that the citizens of the United States are ready for change, but I'd like to suggest that Barack Obama is perhaps a little too big for his britches. Whoa there, Nelly.
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