^{Gitmo was only one of the Bush Administrations attempts to
circumvent the very founding documents they claim to champion.}

(As the debate over enhanced interrogation techniques and Guantanamo Bay heats up, we thought this piece could use a raise. You won't find it anywhere but at American Muslims Today.)

The current ballyhoo over President Obama's Executive order to close Guantanamo Bay has provided me a lot of entertainment lately. As usual the Left cheered and the Right jeered as we have all come to expect. Most ordinary people were left wondering how this decision will affect them. The stakes were higher for American Muslims though. Some of them have personally suffered false imprisonment and hosts of legal problems since the passing of the Patriot Act. In the aftermath of the decision, I admit I have been thoroughly amused by right wing discussions on the issue. Their talking points collectively reveal not only their opinions on how to keep America safe, but they also betray their hidden goals and fears regarding Muslims, and America itself.

Most complain that these dangerous murderous terrorists are out to kill us at all costs and that if deported to their home countries, they will return to the battlefield to kill Americans. Let's first focus on the dangerous murderous terrorist part. The whole reason behind guantanamo, the Patriot Act and all other law skirting addendums of the past 8 years is that whole ‘ burden of proof’ thing. The Justice department has had a problem proving that those who are being held are really guilty at all! There are thousands of Muslims who languished in US custody for years without being formally charged with a single crime. Then after attempts to trump up false charges on some detainees failed, they were released with nothing more than the (now oversized) clothes they came with and a "take care Abdul". (According to reports from McClatchy Washington Bureau reporter Tom Lasseter, Guantanamo detentions did just as much to create terrorists as it did to stop them.)   

 No doubt, there were enemy combatants and some actual terrorists amongst the detainees. Fine, bring them to "justice". Convict them, sentence them, mete out their punishments and get it over with. "Not so fast" says the conservative American public.  Looking at the fact that some detainees are less guilty than others, (what about al Qaeda drivers and cafeteria workers?) the prospect of an eventual release date troubles the neo-cons. They point to recent accounts of released detainees who have returned to the fight with al qaeda. Never mind the fact that these claims have been disputed and that the governments tracking of former detainees has been very poor at best. What is being suggested here is that for the captured driver, cafeteria worker and the armed terrorist the sentence should be the same: if not death, then death of natural causes… in prison. The equation works out to Muslim + suspicion = life in prison. 

 Others believe that those who commit terror or dare to kill Americans should not be granted rights and protections under constitutional law. We ask, does that include Mike Nichols (Oklahoma City Bombing accomplice who was given a trial by his peers) or is it just for the towel-heads? Mike Burke, A relative of a firefighter who died on 9/11 wrote this in response to Obama's edict: