[Cerek the Barbaric]

Originally posted by Davros: For those arguing guilt or innocence I say let's see the courts decide - the "sitting on hands" has gone on for long enough. There is evidence of guilt, or there is not. I agree that age does not define guilt or preclude the possibility of being a terrorist. Neither though, does the holding of these enemy combatants at Gitmo without any visible intent to prosecute confer any certainty that they are. To those who are staying away from the guilt or innocence arguments, but are instead suggesting that a good roof or bed ranks above freedom, can I suggest a modification to that saying that goes along the lines of "The rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"? I personally don't agree, but you are suggesting that the middle term is a tad redundant nowadays, and could be substituted with the words "a good foam mattress".

I suppose that's one way to interpret it Davros. And I agree that liberty/freedom is one of the most important fundamental desires we have as human beings. And this may well be true for the teens being held at Gitmo. Maybe they would prefer to be back in their homeland, despite having to live and try to survive in far worse living conditions than they currently have.

But the point I've been arguing in this thread is that in this particular instance, the teenagers are living in MUCH BETTER conditions now than they were 18 months ago. I very seriously doubt there was much time for them to play volleyball or soccor during their daily routine in Afghanistan. All I'm saying is that - taking that into consideration, along with the fact that these are still kids - there is a possibility that they may not desire to return to their previous conditions as much as most of us might think. I gave an example of a certain sub-group here in America that actually prefer being "locked up" from time to time because of the amenities and security it provides for them...so such a thing is not unheard of.

"Give me liberty or give me death" is NOT a universal truth for every single human being.