Now they tell us

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Now they tell us

Remember the rejoicing about Barack Obama's undeniable but rather less than landslide victory? All those who maintained that the only reason they were anti-American was because of the evil things that happened under President Bush (and that includes Tory Socialists) were dancing with joy. Metaphorically, in some cases but that does not matter.

High on the agenda was Gitmo. It will now be closed, we were told with huge delight. What of the inmates? Oh well, the Americans will deal with it but the wonderful thing is that this blot on the Western consicence will no longer be with us.

So, errm, was it such a terrible thing? Paul Mirengoff on Powerline alerts us to the report produced by the Pentagon at President Obama's request. It seems that conditions at Guantánamo Bay Military Prison did not violate the Geneva Convention. One wonders whether the Democrats and their supporters on this side of the Pond will make anything of it. Will they, for instance, suggest that the outcry about Gitmo had nothing to do with human rights and much to do with anti-Republican politics? That could not possibly be true. Will the Shadow Foreign Secretary make a statement about it?

Meanwhile, missile strikes on militant camps in Pakistan go on and the targets are ever wider, as the New York Times reports. This may or may not be a good idea militarily but, presumably, it is no better an idea than it was under President Bush. Is it? Will the Shadow Foreign Secretary say anything at all about it?