Reply to Cornyn
I received your last letter regarding the detention of terrorist suspects.
After the normal party-line fodder, you make the error of claiming that labeling all detainees as members of al Queda. This is not the case, and is easily demonstrated. The very purpose of providing these detainees with some semblance of legal due process is to allow them to prove or disprove their complicity with al Quaeda or associated groups. Denying these basic rights only gives the American people the illusion of safety by claiming that al Quaeda operatives have been caught and detained. Truth is not so easy.
Finally, you claim the US is "a compassionate nation, and a civilized one." To claim so either demonstrates a deep ignorance of the history and recent policies of our people and our government, or reflects a complicity in the deception itself. No nation is without crimes and sins, and certainly not the US. A history of racial oppression and genocide, international political assassination, unjustified invasion and oppression there, military occupation around the world, and the repression of basic human rights in our own country -- these are not the qualities of a compassionate and civilized nation. To claim such is laughable and shameful.
Bruce J. Martin
5406 Oaklynn Dr
Spring TX 77373-6968 USA
After the normal party-line fodder, you make the error of claiming that labeling all detainees as members of al Queda. This is not the case, and is easily demonstrated. The very purpose of providing these detainees with some semblance of legal due process is to allow them to prove or disprove their complicity with al Quaeda or associated groups. Denying these basic rights only gives the American people the illusion of safety by claiming that al Quaeda operatives have been caught and detained. Truth is not so easy.
Finally, you claim the US is "a compassionate nation, and a civilized one." To claim so either demonstrates a deep ignorance of the history and recent policies of our people and our government, or reflects a complicity in the deception itself. No nation is without crimes and sins, and certainly not the US. A history of racial oppression and genocide, international political assassination, unjustified invasion and oppression there, military occupation around the world, and the repression of basic human rights in our own country -- these are not the qualities of a compassionate and civilized nation. To claim such is laughable and shameful.
Bruce J. Martin
5406 Oaklynn Dr
Spring TX 77373-6968 USA
