A LESSON ON HOW TO TREAT WAR PRISONERS

Apparently, when the big Chinook kicked off, the
SEAL fell out. A 32-year-old guy named Neil Roberts.
A petty officer first class, one of the toughest in
the American armed forces, in the back of a big
twin-rotor helicopter that was taking fire.

And he went out the side. Nobody's exactly sure
how. But there's a lot of movement and a lot of wind
and a lot of gravity. And when they got close to base
and did the head count they were one shy.

That's Afghanistan.

Which is a long way from Cuba.

Where a hundred and more captured Al Qaeda
prisoners sit in cells
waiting for lunch. A good Muslim lunch designed to
incorporate their traditional foods and to be
respectful of Islam's dietary guidelines. Just
like breakfast and supper. They eat good there, and
most of them have put on weight.

And most of them have been through the camp
infirmary, a fully functioning Army field hospital
where they receive the same medical care
offered members of the American military. In fact, in
addition to treating any injuries sustained in their
capture, American specialists have also
treated orthopedic and cosmetic injuries sustained in
battle months and years ago.

Al Qaeda detainees at Guantanamo Bay have received
the best of American medical and dental care-for
free-being given procedures and treatment
simply unavailable in their native lands.

And they've been given a Muslim chaplain, flown in
especially for them, and copies of the Koran, and a
big sign points the direction to pray
toward Mecca and the five-times-a-day Islamic call
to prayer is played on the camp loudspeaker.

That's what's happening in Cuba.

And yet, activists and officials from around the
world have publiclly condemned American treatment of
the Al Qaeda men captured in combat.
Muslim governments, our European allies, American
leftist groups and Amnesty International-types have
all bitterly accused the United States of
being inhumane. Some have claimed there should be a
United Nations condemnation, many have called for
international inspectors to go in. The call has been
loud, almost deafening, as the world has condemned
and cursed the way Al Qaeda fighters have been
treated in captivity by Americans.

That's in Cuba.

Which is a long way from Afghanistan.

Where one of those Prowler unmanned surveillance
planes saw Petty Officer Roberts come out of the
helicopter, and lie there injured but alive
and conscious. The bigwigs saw this, live, back at
headquarters.

And they also saw the three Al Qaeda guys come out
of the bush and grab him. He was their prisoner.
Captured in battle.
And they grabbed him and dragged him and took him
away.

And then, it seems, they beat him.

And executed him.

They shot him to death. Bang, bang. A wounded man.
A detainee. No medical care, no food, no holy book, no
chaplain.

Just a bullet.

Which has produced silence on the part of the
world's activists.

Not one word.

Apparently it's OK to shoot a wounded prisoner,
but if you take him to a hospital and treat his
injuries and feed him, you've gone too far.
Apparently killing an American detainee is
acceptable, while coddling an Al Qaeda detainee is
not. The same people who have seen a war crime in
the treatment of terrorists are unperturbed by the
slaughter of a prisoner of war.

We treat them with caring and compassion, and we
get cursed. They treat us with barbarism and butchery,
and they get blessed.

And that's not right.

Critics of the American detention of Al Qaeda
terrorists in Cuba aren't concerned about those
terrorists, and they don't give two hoots
about human rights. What they want to do is attack
America, any way they can.
The great many people who hate the American people
and
culture have rallied to the defense of the Cuba
detainees.

And had nary a word of criticism for the pigs who
executed Neil Roberts in cold blood.

This war is about good versus evil-no matter what
you hear. The forces of light are tackling the forces
of darkness. Civilization is taming savagery.

And Neil Roberts gave his life in that cause.

And, fortunately for them, the Al Qaeda detainees
in Cuba were captured by men instead of beasts.

SKIP