Guantanamo

…as a state-sponsored madrasah:

if we think it probable or possible that a man would only mutate into such a monster after undergoing the Guantanamo experience, then I can suggest one reason why that might be. Nothing prepared me for the way in which the authorities at the camp have allowed the most extreme religious cultists among the inmates to be the organizers of the prisoners’ daily routine. Suppose that you were a secular or unfanatical person caught in the net by mistake; you would still find yourself being compelled to pray five times a day (the guards are not permitted to interrupt), to have a Quran in your cell, and to eat food prepared to halal (or Sharia) standards. I suppose you could ask to abstain, but, in such a case, I wouldn’t much fancy your chances. The officers in charge were so pleased by this ability to show off their extreme broad-mindedness in respect of Islam that they looked almost hurt when I asked how they justified the use of taxpayers’ money to create an institution dedicated to the fervent practice of the most extreme version of just one religion. To the huge list of reasons to close down Guantanamo, add this: It’s a state-sponsored madrasah.

Of course, I don’t think that’s an excuse to shut down Gitmo, but it is an excuse to rethink our “tolerance” of the totalitarian ideology with which we’re at war, but won’t admit it. I can only shake my head at the insanity of those who thought that the Bush administration was too hard on radical Islam. Would we handing out copies of Mein Kampf to German POWs during the war (ignoring the fact, of course, that these are not POWs but illegal combatants)?

And more on the president’s naivety and historical ignorance:

The same near-masochistic insistence on taking the extreme as the norm was also present in Obama’s smoothly delivered speech in the Egyptian capital. Some of what he said was well-intentioned if ill-informed. The United States should not have overthrown the elected government of Iran in 1953, but when it did so, it used bribed mullahs and ayatollahs to whip up anti-Communist sentiment against a secular regime. The John Adams administration in the 1796 Treaty of Tripoli did indeed proclaim that the United States had no quarrel with Islam as such (and, even more important, that the United States itself was in no sense a Christian nation), but the treaty failed to stop the Barbary states from invoking the Quran as permission to kidnap and enslave travelers on the high seas, and thus Thomas Jefferson was later compelled to send a fleet and the Marines to put down the trade. One hopes that Obama does not prefer Adams to Jefferson in this regard.

Any person with the smallest pretense to cultural literacy knows that there is no such place or thing as “the Muslim world,” or, rather, that it consists of many places and many things. (It is precisely the aim of the jihadists to bring it all under one rulership preparatory to making Islam the world’s only religion.) But Obama said nothing about the schism between Sunni and Shiites, or about the argument over Sufism, or about Ahmadi and Ismaili forms of worship and practice. All this was conceded to the umma: the highly ideological notion that a person is first and foremost defined by their adherence to a religion and that all concepts of citizenship and rights take second place to this theocratic diktat. Nothing could be more reactionary.

That would be too politically inconvenient to mention.

4 thoughts on “Guantanamo”

  1. During the most active part of “Korean Conflict”, the island of Cheju was the POW camp. The camp commander, enlightened brigadier that he was, wanted to introduce the prisoners to the inherent superiority of democracy, so he allowed camp elections. The most ardent Communists took control of the prisoners, organized against the guards, and mobilized the prisoners to riot.

    The camp commander went to talk with the POW leaders. He was seized as a hostage.

    If I have muddled a few facts, the essence of the story remains true.

  2. I’d don’t think that praying five times a day, having a Koran, and eating halal are indicative of “the most extreme religious cultists” running things.

    The first and last are required of all Muslim (prayer five times a day being one of the five pillars of Islam, and eating halal is, while not a “pillar”, still required.

    Having a Koran isn’t exactly indicative of extremism either.

    Now, I wouldn’t be surprised to find that the worst zealots were running inmate religious life. But the evidence given is trifling.

    Even an “unfanatical” Muslim “caught by mistake” (not that those guys haven’t all been released by now) would still already be used to eating halal and praying – and having a Koran isn’t going to make him a fanatic.

  3. Sigivald:

    The relevant question is WHICH practice forms of Islam gain ascendancy among the prisoners. If the prison guards accede to the demands of the Wahabis, then the US Government has accepted that virulent form of Islam as being the “proper” form of Islam.

    If, OTOH, the prison officials make available a plethora of worship opportunities, allowing each individual prisoner to Submit in their own way, then that is another thing entirely.

  4. I agree with Sigivald. It may be true that the most virulent Wahabbists run the social affairs of the camp, but the evidence given does not support (or refute) that argument. All that can be said is that they’re Muslims.

    One thing I’d like to see is voluntary associations, say by providing a ‘secular’ run camp where prisoners can opt out of the craziness and are protected from any repercussions for making that choice.

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