International Terrorism it Is Difficult

International Terrorism

It is difficult to say that the United States has placed too much emphasis on the notion of jihad; given the very real, calculable effects that terrorism has had, not simply upon U.S. own soil, but on the safety other lands as well. However, to simplistically view all potential terror suspects as mindlessly following a fanatical religious doctrine, without any consideration of different motives of different groups or individuals is absurd, and ultimately unhelpful in fighting the war on terror. Political prisoners commit suicide for any number of reasons, some political, some personal, such as despair. "The suicides should surprise no one because the detainees believe they will be held indefinitely with no chance for justice, said Josh Colangelo-Bryan with the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents about 200 of the detainees. 'They've been told that while at Guantanamo they have no rights as human beings' he told reporters" (Starr, 2006).

However, although the reasons the detainees at Gitmo committed suicide cannot be deduced after the fact, at very least, we can attempt to get past the mentality that the members of terrorist organizations act as a monolith, and that the action of every individual accused of terrorist actions is somehow in the service of a single concept of jihad. This conveniently ignores the human complexities of why individuals commit acts of terror, and also absolves their keepers of any responsibility for treating them in a humane fashion that is consistent with U.S. Constitutional law.

Question

The problem with evaluating the motives of the detainees at Gitmo is that the justice process at the prison has become so questionable that automatically any allegations about the status of the prisoners as radical extremists determined to wage jihad against western society seems equally doubtful. There is no doubt that some may be disaffected and confused men and some may indeed be hardened terrorists. However, when the justice process itself is under scrutiny, any findings become suspect. "Many of the FBI accounts came from conscience-stricken agents troubled by what they had witnessed. One agent reported seeing a detainee sitting on the floor of an interrogation cell with an Israeli flag draped around him while he was bombarded by loud music and a strobe light -- almost exactly what Al Qosi had alleged. Another reported seeing detainees chained hand and foot in fetal positions, in barren cells with no chair, food or water (Isikoff, 2007). In the face evidence that illegal interrogation tactics were used, the likelihood that some innocent man may be accused seems high.