foul

the situation in guantánamo was one that had become untenable many many months ago.
because the detainees have not been charged there is no indication of their guilt or complicity. because they have been in captivity for so long that they can no longer have useful information that can have any bearing on the war against terror. in fact the ongoing imprisonment of the various individuals appear to be no more than vindictive bullying.

so when 3 detainees commit suicide it should be a signal that something is not quite right.

leave it to the americans to be able to spin this.

colleen graffy, who demonstrates that although she maybe involved with “public diplomacy” she manages not to understand the idea of diplomacy, in fact she shows a propensity to open mouth and insert foot. ms graffy says of the suicides: "it does sound like this is part of a strategy - in that they don't value their own lives, and they certainly don't value ours; and they use suicide bombings as a tactic….taking their own lives was not necessary, but it certainly is a good pr move."

ah if only mz graffy had stopped and thought before she spoke she might not have said such guff. the joy of it all is that her statement plays upon the fear of an overarching conspiracy theory against america that is so sophisticated that they can contact the detainees in order to plan and encourage them to commit joint suicide.
indeed her own comments have probably been the pr coup that al-qaida that has been praying for. she has basically told the world that america really doesn’t care about the detainees in anyway shape or form.

ironically these statements come at a time when many of america’s allies in the war on terror are saying that guantánamo is actually harming america’s position in the world.
but as we all know america is not interested in listening to others, and in ignoring the voices of dissent from supporters they just make the case for their radical opponents even stronger.


(interesting sidebars: just finished listening to melanie phillips on radio 5 (a change from the world cup) she is the uk's equivalent of anne coulter - but not quite so mad - she has a new book out called "londonanistan" it sounds like one of those books that i will find i am agreeing with some of it but cursing most of it. more and more though it seems to be part of the idea that we are indeed stepping on the path that leads to a clash of civilisations.

in the freakonimics book (which is not as good as it is made out) but it does make the point that money and attention can be fed into the idea of terrorism not because terrorism is in fact dangerous per se, but that the perceived fear of it that grips us, as such mz graffy is just feeding in to the whole fear cycle.