Stop This Brutality in Our Name
The Daily Mirror (London)
January 21, 2002
Editorial
Stop This Britality in Our Name
THIS is what is being done in the name of humanity,
civilisation and the British people.
These prisoners are trapped in open cages, manacled hand and foot,
brutalised, tortured and humiliated.
We are assured they are cruel, evil men, though not one has been
charged, let alone convicted, of any offence.
Yet that does not justify the barbaric treatment they are receiving
from US forces. Barbarism which is backed by our Government.
Tony Blair says he is standing shoulder to shoulder with President
Bush. Not on our behalf, he isn't.
Mr Bush is close to achieving the impossible - losing the sympathy
of the civilised world for what happened in New York and Washington
on September 11.
Today he celebrates a year in office. He came to the presidency
after a squalid vote-fix, yet in the aftermath of the
destruction of the World Trade Center, he achieved
enormous popularity among the American people.
The treatment of the prisoners in Cuba is no more than a sick
attempt to appeal to the worst red-neck (sic) prejudices.
The pictures showing how these men are being abused were actually
taken by an official US photographer.
The President and his head-banging associates are proud of them,
proud of the cruelty inflicted in their name, proud of
the vengeance they are taking.
What the American President does is his business. But what
our Prime Minister does is ours.
Tony Blair has played a unique role in the war on terrorism. He
persuaded Mr Bush to calm down in the days immediately after
September 11.
He has done more to forge and hold together the great alliance of
nations which is dedicated to ridding the world of terrorism.
Today he should be playing another leading role. He should be
telling George W. Bush that the treatment of the prisoners in Cuba
is not acceptable.
If Mr Blair thinks it is, he should have a word with his wife,
Cherie. She is a leading human-rights lawyer.
His Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, said last week that
the prisoners should be treated humanely. They clearly are
not. Once again, Mr Straw has failed to make the slightest
impact.
Even if these men had been found guilty, they should not be treated
like this. It is not doing anything to help the war on terrorism.
These pictures will do the opposite - inflame the belief among some
young Muslims that America is their enemy.
Anyway, who are these prisoners? It is said that some may
not belong to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda at all, but were
members of the Taliban.
That was a horrific regime and the Afghani people are delighted to
be rid of it. But it achieved power with the help of the United
States and the UK.
Since September 11, America has walked a fine line between fighting
for humanity and lusting after revenge. The treatment of these
prisoners shows how far the balance has tilted the wrong way.
If Mr Bush insists on following this path, the rest of the world
should leave him in no doubt that he walks it alone. And Tony Blair
should be leading the protest.
What is happening at Guantanamo is a disgrace. It must not be done
in our name, Mr Blair.
