Nasty Little Man

More thoughts on torture at Guantanamo

The night before I read that article from Rolling Stone I watched a documentary on the History Channel called "Nazi POWs in America." The difference between the way Nazis were treated and the way we've treated detainees at Guantanamo is striking. The Germans were housed in the United States. They had more food than average Americans, who were rationing. They gardened, played games, had concerts, and watched movies. The most hardcore among them did carry out their own form of justice, which included killings, while American overseers looked the other way, but this was the one negative.

(B)y bringing Axis POWs to the U.S., the Allies inadvertently defanged even the most ardent Nazi POWS and created "Little Ambassadors". First, Nazi loyalists among the Germans saw that the wild and rabid anti-U.S. propaganda that they had been fed didn't fit what they saw in America. Second, all German POWs learned by example what democracy looked like on a daily, personal basis. Third, after the German capitulation some were chosen for special "re-education" to counter lingering post-war Nazi ideology once backs in Europe. Fourth, most German POWs took with them to Germany news and views of America which, by and large, spoke well of the U.S.—the land of their victors and former "enemies".

Some German POWs returned to the United States to live just a few years after returning to Germany. Some went on to be leaders in the democratic West Germany.

Compare that to what we're doing at Guantanamo. George W. Bush wants to spread democracy and freedom around the world but is missing a great opportunity by destroying people at Guantanamo Bay.

posted by Kinder Gentler Little Man @ 8:15 PM