Comments on: Much Ado About Rendition http://matadorpulse.com/much-ado-about-rendition/ Just another WordPress weblog Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:42:37 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: joshywashington http://matadorpulse.com/much-ado-about-rendition/comment-page-1/#comment-1463 joshywashington Tue, 03 Feb 2009 20:33:56 +0000 http://matadorpulse.com/?p=410#comment-1463 does Obama want to have his terrorist cake and eat it too? America can no longer afford to be fuzzy and resign itself to loopholes that allow human rights to be trampled! does Obama want to have his terrorist cake and eat it too? America can no longer afford to be fuzzy and resign itself to loopholes that allow human rights to be trampled!

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]]> By: Julie http://matadorpulse.com/much-ado-about-rendition/comment-page-1/#comment-1462 Julie Tue, 03 Feb 2009 20:29:22 +0000 http://matadorpulse.com/?p=410#comment-1462 As much as I love President Obama (and really hate to be critical of him), the practice of extraordinary rendition (itself a semantic turn of phrase that obscures the actual practice, though that term precedes Obama) concerns me deeply. As I've written elsewhere--and what many Americans, at least, seem unwilling to acknowledge--is that closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay is only going to be a symbolic gesture if the administration fails to address other practices of rendition, torture, and the evasion of the standard practices of democratic justice. We merely move our problems elsewhere or call them something different, drawing attention away from the most controversial places--Abu Ghraib (which is about to reopen and has been renamed) and Guantanamo--never really addressing the underlying issues that are of critical importance. As much as I love President Obama (and really hate to be critical of him), the practice of extraordinary rendition (itself a semantic turn of phrase that obscures the actual practice, though that term precedes Obama) concerns me deeply. As I've written elsewhere–and what many Americans, at least, seem unwilling to acknowledge–is that closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay is only going to be a symbolic gesture if the administration fails to address other practices of rendition, torture, and the evasion of the standard practices of democratic justice. We merely move our problems elsewhere or call them something different, drawing attention away from the most controversial places–Abu Ghraib (which is about to reopen and has been renamed) and Guantanamo–never really addressing the underlying issues that are of critical importance.

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]]> By: Eva http://matadorpulse.com/much-ado-about-rendition/comment-page-1/#comment-1461 Eva Tue, 03 Feb 2009 17:48:46 +0000 http://matadorpulse.com/?p=410#comment-1461 Hey Sarah, I agree, it's worrying. Though I am (slightly) comforted by a) the quasi-transparency on the issue (even if the media is largely ignoring it), and b) the administration's apparent awareness of the very, very fine line they are walking here. The last admin (cough) didn't think they ever did anything wrong, as far as I can tell, so the awareness is, well, something. I guess. One of the more high-profile rendition cases was Maher Arar, the Canadian man who spent 10 months being tortured in a Syrian prison despite no terror ties ever being proven, and since he's from my very own hometown it's an issue I've followed closely. I'll be keeping a close eye on this as things go forward. Hey Sarah, I agree, it's worrying. Though I am (slightly) comforted by a) the quasi-transparency on the issue (even if the media is largely ignoring it), and b) the administration's apparent awareness of the very, very fine line they are walking here. The last admin (cough) didn't think they ever did anything wrong, as far as I can tell, so the awareness is, well, something. I guess. One of the more high-profile rendition cases was Maher Arar, the Canadian man who spent 10 months being tortured in a Syrian prison despite no terror ties ever being proven, and since he's from my very own hometown it's an issue I've followed closely. I'll be keeping a close eye on this as things go forward.

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]]> By: Sarah_Menkedick http://matadorpulse.com/much-ado-about-rendition/comment-page-1/#comment-1460 Sarah_Menkedick Tue, 03 Feb 2009 15:17:38 +0000 http://matadorpulse.com/?p=410#comment-1460 Hey Eva, This is disturbing. Yet another case of U.S hypocrisy amidst all this glorious talk of "freedom." I feel a real hope regarding Obama, but I wonder how much the frenzy of excitement surrounding him is going to mask these sorts of issues. I really hope that with the new sense of political commitment in the U.S people will demand that these questions be put on the table. Although, then again, mainstream media so often fails to report these kinds of things. Hey Eva, This is disturbing. Yet another case of U.S hypocrisy amidst all this glorious talk of "freedom." I feel a real hope regarding Obama, but I wonder how much the frenzy of excitement surrounding him is going to mask these sorts of issues. I really hope that with the new sense of political commitment in the U.S people will demand that these questions be put on the table. Although, then again, mainstream media so often fails to report these kinds of things.

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