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June 15, 2006

Fixing our Mistakes

Well, here's at least one area in which left and right might be able to agree: how we treat people wrongly detained as part of the Global War on Terror.

I understand that we're going to sweep up some of the wrong people as we attempt to secure terrorists in this war. Terrorists don't wear uniforms or any other insignia that make it easy to determine whose side they're on. And in any human endeavor, mistakes will be made. But there are several things we should be able to do in order to minimize both the number of mistakes we makes and the effects of those mistakes. As I've been noting for almost five years now, success in this war will only come if we can convince people to stop resorting to terrorism. That doesn't mean we have to kowtow to people we think might turn to terrorism by any means, but it does mean we ought to do what we can not to encourage people to take up the cause.

This war presents us with significant difficulty because it's hard to tell when it will be over. So when we capture a terrorist, we're basically imprisoning them for life, unlike POWs during conventional wars. It is therefore incumbent on us to make sure we're actually keeping real terrorists, and not just unlucky people who were singled out because their neighbor wanted revenge because they used to play the call to prayer too loud at three in the morning. Yes, I'm aware that some of the people we released from Guantanamo Bay went on to fight against the United States on other fronts. But our failure to properly identify which people to release doesn't mean we ought to hold them all, just in case. Does this come at a price? Absolutely. We may release someone who goes on to kill many Americans. But is holding onto people whose only crime was being in the wrong place at the wrong time really better? I suppose it may seem that way if you're not one of the people being detained indefinitely, but it's difficult for me to square that with my views of how the United States ought to act. Imprisoning people for life based on the fear they might be terrorists may be an effective means of ensuring those people don't attack the U.S., but it undermines our principles and may well encourage other people to act against the U.S. in retaliation.

Having said that, once we do determine that someone is not a terrorist and therefore shouldn't be held against their will, I think we can all agree that we owe it to them to make up for the inconveniences they've suffered. Even if you're completely in disagreement with my first paragraph, when it comes to people we know were taken in under false pretenses I hope we can agree that we have a responsibility to amend our error as much as possible. Maybe that doesn't necessarily include allowing these people to settle in the United States, but at a bare minimum it ought to include getting those people to a place where they don't have to worry about being executed for their views. I'd prefer to see them also recompensed in some way for the inconveniences they suffered. We've taken away years of these people's lives, years they can never get back. It does not seem unreasonable to recompense them in some way for that cost.

Once upon a time, I thought we were the good guys. I'd like to at least make sure we're not the bad guys.