[QUOTE=Ken White;60630]Except we do not know all the facts, ergo some thinking is justified until such point as those fact are pretty conclusive.

True, we don't know all the facts. Have you seen the affidavit though? They interviewed a half dozen soldiers who were there and were pretty unequivocal about what they saw. The thing I don't understand is why this case is being handled so quickly when the DOJ under Bush has perfected the art of nullifying select parts of the U.S. Constitution and international law.

>In such speculations, some will lean toward the rule of law; others toward >the emotional quotient of the case at hand. No one is wrong.

Except Alaya. Under the law he's wrong. And the law is all we have.

>Those things may >be trumpeted by anti-war types and nominal opponents

Trumpeted by anti-war types and anti-Bush people, like, um, every member of the Supreme Court?

>Note that the 'PMCs in Iraq firing on civilians' factor is not one whit more >deleterious than is or was such firing by US troops or by Iraqi forces

No, it's not, I agree. I never said it was somehow worse for PMCs to kill civilians as it was for soldiers. It certainly doesn't matter a whole lot to the victims

>Gitmo as disaster is an interesting trope.

It's not a trope, unfortunately. It's not an academic debating point or a literary creation. It's a legal disaster, a humanitarian nightmare, and a big ol black spot on our national character.

>I can hardly wait to see how the new administration mitigates that >'disaster.'

I can't wait either. My guess is we, as in this country, will take the sly way out of that mess and quietly ship the detainees back to cells in their home countries, or third-party countries, where they will be someone else's problem.