European And U.S. Terrorist Treatment

TruthNews Commentary, February 5, 2002

Whining continues on the European front regarding America's supposed mistreatment of captured Al Qaida terrorists. That the Europeans, notorious for their holier than thou attitudes, are whining about America's imagined misdeeds, is not surprising. After all, these are the same bleeding hearts who complained about the execution of mass-murderer Timothy McVeigh. However, their latest whining is so absurd as to defy rational comprehension.

First, let's consider the facts. Nineteen Al Qaida terrorists hijacked four American airliners, crashed them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, killing themselves and over 3000 innocent people. In our ensuing war against the Al Qaida and their Taliban cronies, U.S. forces captured several hundred of the terrorists while others fought to the death.

America's first combat casualty in Afghanistan came in a prison uprising by the captured Al Qaida terrorists. The Al Qaida captives killed a CIA officer and many of their Afghan jailers before being bombed into oblivion by the U.S. Air Force.

Some of the Al Qaida killers were subsequently transferred to the U.S. Navy base in Cuba. Because of the Al Qaida's demonstrated propensity for hijacking airplanes and crashing them into buildings, the terrorists were manacled and hooded during the flight. One of the terrorists showed his gratitude for being allowed to live by bitinq a guard on the flight. Now that the terrorists are in Cuba, they are being provided with Moslem food and a Muslim chaplain calls them to prayer three times a day.

But the Europeans are upset because these fanatical crazed killers were manacled while being transferred, are being housed in outdoor pens, and are being treated as criminals rather than prisoners of war. Let's answer these specious concerns one by one.

First, if you were carrying a rabid pit bull in your car, you'd probably treat him differently than Lassie. Lassie could ride in the seat beside you, but the mad dog would be confined in a cage in the trunk. So when you're transporting 100 would-be suicidal hijackers in an airplane, you don't treat them like first class passengers but take appropriate precautions to make sure they don't carry out a suicidal hijacking in midflight and crash the plane into a skyscraper in Miami.

Second, don't expect a lot of sympathy from us because these killers are being kept outdoors in 80 degree weather in Cuba when U.S. Marines are still crawlinq on their bellies in the subzero Afghan winter while Al Qaida terrorists try to kill them. Besides, the Al Qaida terrorists are living better in Cuba than they did in Afghanistan. Of course, they're not happy about it because they'd rather be killing Americans.

Third, the Al Qaida killers are war criminals and murderers, not soldiers. They are part of a terrorist organization that carried out the worst terrorist attack in history. They do not fight for a sovereign government, wear uniforms, or observe the rules of war. They are no more POW's than are Terry Nichols or Charles Manson. POW's are released at the end of hostilities. War criminals are put on trial and thrown in jail.

So we say to Europe, save your sympathy for those who deserve it. The killers incarcerated in Cuba deserve summary execution. That they have been allowed to live is due to American mercy and generosity. So let's not hear any more-holier-than-thou whining from the continent that brought us the Holocaust, the Reign of Terror, the Evil Empire, the Inquisition, two world wars, the African slave trade, colonialism, ethnic cleansing, and escargot.

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