Month: February 2007

Considering a Vision: Rudy Giuliani

In keeping with the promise made in my previous article, “Visionary Terms”, this is the first in a series of articles where we will explore both the history of the Presidential candidates and try to get a clear view of the vision they offer to the American people for their future.

Rudy Giuliani once was, for many, a name vaguely associated with New York, police brutality, and perhaps personal controversy for those addicted to tabloid headlines. It was not until September 11, 2001, when the World Trade Center came tumbling to the ground and New York became the center of America’s anger, fear, and grieving, that Mayor Guiliani became a household name.
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The Monster We Have Become

On January 11, 2002, the first prisoners arrived at Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba. Despite much public objection, calls by Amnesty International and other human rights organizations, and several legal battles, we still hold over 400 prisoners in Guantanamo today. We are told that these men are the “worst of the worst”, “obvious threats to national security”, “Islamofascists”, and “terrorists”. We use these epithets to justify our new definitions which allow us to hold them outside the regulations of the Geneva Conventions, outside of previous United States law, and outside of our general moral concerns. It is worth a moment of our time, then, to consider who these men actually are, what we intend to do with them, and whether our means will justify our bespoken ends.

Of the 775 men and boys who have been held as “enemy combatants” at Guantanamo, about 340 have been released, 110 are scheduled for release, around 70 are to stand trial, and around 250 “may be held indefinitely”. Only ten have been charged with anything at all.
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