QU!RK1019: thamike: What does that have to do with anything?

The article says that he's insane, and it says that it must be from torture. I just think maybe he was insane to begin with.

we'll never know, will we?

Secret courts, government approved torture/interrogation, military tribunals and a civilan court system that's a miracle of gutless cowardice. This 'conviction' was a sad day for all of us. Not because the guy was guilty, but because it represents a failure of our 'justice' system. The rules were not followed. We abused and tortured someone because we (as a society) were scared of him. I find nothing here that's good or noble. Nothing here that helped us beat 'the terrorists'. All I can see is a massive failure of our constitutional protections.

We've 'turned a corner' alright, and it's leading us into a bad, bad neighborhood.

thamike: Weaver, is that you? I think I'm getting all misty-eyed.

When we fought the Cold War, we distinguished ourselves from the Soviets by saying WE didn't torture people. We had a system of laws, people had rights and we respected those right while balancing them against an enemy who routinely used the most vile of means to keep their population under control. And for over 60 years (give or take), we held the 'Evil Empire' at bay while keeping hold of our values.

Then came 9/11. And we forgot those values. When push came to shove and our backs were against the wall - we abandoned the core values that make this country great. We started to use the very same means we said we despised from our enemy during 60 years of fighting the Cold War. Now we're torturing our own citizens, we're wiretapping our own people and we seem to be ok with the abuse of our rights. Our leaders tell us that it's necessary to strip away the Bill of Rights. well - if it's a choice between our rights and letting a potential terrorist get away, I'll choose to save my rights. Every. Time.