On Protesting Guantanamo

On January 11, 2008 the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay will celebrate an unfortunate anniversary. Its sixth anniversary.

The United States will have been holding detainees there, outside of legal guidelines and international law, for longer than the American involvement in, say, World War II. Longer than the Civil War. Longer than most Presidencies.

Six years.

The ACLU wants to make people aware that Guantanamo still exists. That people are still held there. That it’s time to close Guantanamo, and send the detainees home or accord them all the rights and privileges afforded prisoners of war.

The ACLU wants people to wear orange next Friday, on January 11th.

I’m not sure that I own anything orange. I think, this weekend, that’s going to change.

Guantanamo Bay. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has declared that “we have shaken the belief the world had in America’s justice system by keeping a place like Guantánamo open and creating things like the military commission.” Secretary of State Condi Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates have publicly stated they want it closed. It’s a national disgrace. It’s not what the United States stands for.

It’s long past time to close it.

Wear orange.

Published by Allyn

A writer, editor, journalist, sometimes coder, occasional historian, and all-around scholar, Allyn Gibson is the writer for Diamond Comic Distributors' monthly PREVIEWS catalog, used by comic book shops and throughout the comics industry, and the editor for its monthly order forms. In his over ten years in the industry, Allyn has interviewed comics creators and pop culture celebrities, covered conventions, analyzed industry revenue trends, and written copy for comics, toys, and other pop culture merchandise. Allyn is also known for his short fiction (including the Star Trek story "Make-Believe,"the Doctor Who short story "The Spindle of Necessity," and the ReDeus story "The Ginger Kid"). Allyn has been blogging regularly with WordPress since 2004.

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