Guantanamo suicides

I was disturbed this morning to hear on the radio that three men have committed suicide at Guantanamo Bay. Not disturbed that they had done this – the only new thing is that they succeeded; there have reportedly been dozens of attempted suicides of the past few years. No, what disturbed me was the reaction of the camp commander. Instead of accepting any responsibility, instead of making any statements of regret, instead of even offering sympathy to their families and friends, instead of any of these things, he described the event as “an act of war”. Now, whether we regard the “War on Terror” as any real sort of a war, this is inappropriate in the extreme. Even if it was primarily an act designed to shame the USA, it’s still a tragedy that this could happen.

Update
Ekklesia is reporting related news.

Clive Stafford-Smith [an international human-rights lawyer and head of the anti-death-penalty charity Reprieve] said that such a response “beggars belief”.

Also, in related news, US evangelical leaders have joined a joint statement by 27 American religious leaders calling for an end to the use of torture as part of US policy.

What is particularly significant about the initiative is that it has the endorsement of leading evangelicals – who some believe are more likely to catch the ear of President Bush and his advisers than ecumenical, mainstream and inter-religious voices.

pax et bonum

Article posted at 10:09pm on 11 June 2006
Category: Politics, General

Ekklesia is sooo shifty.

Rick Warren jumpoed the shark years ago. He does not represent evangelicalism in America.

Glen Stassen? He was run out of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for heresy and advocating abortion.

Don’t be tricked by Ekklesia’s designation of “surprising evnagelicals”. These guys are on the team of social liberals.

Now, on the suicides, I do agree that the camp commander should have taken some responsibility – not that he caused their deaths, but allowed them the means to do so. The rest of the responsibility lies with the suicides, not the camp commander.

Hammertime () (URL)
9:43pm on 14 June 2006

These people do represent some evangelicals, though. Which is a huge improvement on the previous position. Unless we really do want the church supporting the use of torture?

As for the camp commander, no one is expecting him to take the responsibility. (Or not much, anyway – he’s undeniably got some.) But what is shocking is his lack of any apparent compassion, and the fact that he can apparently only view these events through the lens of “the war on terror”.

pax et bonum

[John] () (URL)
10:54pm on 14 June 2006

I may have overreacted a hair. I just get fired up when the usual suspects – Warren, McLaren, Stassen, etc – are used to imply that “evangelicals” are in on the issue. The same jokers are were part of the “shocker” that “evangelicals” are anti-global warming. If the post had merely mentioned that a wide array of religious leaders signed the document (actually, I have seen a copy of it in my Christian Ethics class), I wouldn’t have uttered a peep.

I just don’t know that the role of the camp commander is to express his compassion in this case, or even to feel it. He is a soldier, who is dedicated to the defeat of the enemies of his country. I honestly can’t say that I would be compassionate either in his shoes – not any more than he would be compassionate for those he kills on the battlefield.

I don’t think you need to be a military veteran to understand the military viewpoint of such things, but it helps. Soldiers have, at its core, an ugly job, and removing some of the natural compassion (like for enemies who kill themselves, not out of despair or horrible conditions, but because they think they will be rewarded martyrs) reduces the emotional overload while preserving the compassion for the non-combatants and wounded.

Hammertime () (URL)
5:20pm on 19 June 2006

“I just don’t know that the role of the camp commander is to express his compassion in this case“

Perhaps not – but, in that case, surely his place is to keep quiet. If soldiers cannot feel compassion for fellow human beings then they are unable to make valid judgements on crucial issues. Such a one is supremely unsuited to making any sort of public statement about the motivations of their adversaries. (This isn’t anti-soldier, just pointing out the limitations of such a viewpoint.)

pax et bonum

[John] () (URL)
07:46am on 20 June 2006