Jack Kelly on International Organizations with legitimate Gitmo gripes

Jack Kelly over at Irish Pennants (you do have him bookmarked and blogrolled, right?) has a wonderful take on the latest comparisons of Gitmo to the Nazis/Stalinists/Khmer Rouge. He’s speaking in response to the ludicrous comparison made by Senator Dick Durbin on the Senate floor.

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The Nazis killed millions in their concentration camps. The Soviets killed millions in theirs. Pol Pot murdered millions. Number of detainees at Gitmo who have died: zero. Number of detainees at Gitmo who have suffered serious injuries at the hands of of guards or interrogators: zero. There is one international organization that has a legitimate beef with how we are running things at Gitmo: Weight Watchers. The average detainee has gained 18 lbs in custody, according to a spokesman for the joint task force there. This makes Gitmo the only POW camp in the history of the world where prisoners have gotten fat.

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Oh my God! Where’s the ACLU now when we need them?!? SAVE THE DETAINEES FROM CELLULITE!!!!

He’s completely correct, of course. No, not about the Weight Watchers&trade folks. The equalizing of Gitmo to Auschwitz or the gulag – they real gulag, not Amnesty International’s publicity-stunt variant of the gulag – would be laugable if it didn’t play into the hands of our enemies so easily. Durbin’s playing the part of an idiot by engaging in that kind of crap.

200 illegals arrested in New England

Well, it’s progress.

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BOSTON – Nearly 200 illegal immigrants who were ordered deported for committing crimes were arrested during a six-day undercover sweep across New England (search), federal authorities said. Dozens of federal, state and local law-enforcement officers began a search Friday for the roughly 200 people targeted in the sweep; by Wednesday afternoon, they had arrested at least 187 illegal immigrants. Authorities planned a Thursday news conference to discuss the operation, believed to be the largest of its kind staged by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (search) regional field office, said Bruce Chadbourne, ICE’s New England field director.

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This is not bad and I’m glad to see there’s action being taken. Now, these people need to be shown the door, permanently, and every identifying measure taken of them. Fingerprints, retina scan, facial thermograph, dental records – you name it. If they try to come back in again, we need to be able to ID them and stop them at the border. Of course, there’s more to this story that suggests further actions:

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Those arrested had served time in prison or jail for a wide range of crimes, including attempted murder, rape, child molestation and arson, authorities said. Many illegal immigrants aren’t immediately deported after serving time because local officials fail to notify federal authorities of the convicts’ release. “Some of them have gone through the criminal justice process, and we were not even aware of it,” Chadbourne said. “(State prison officials) are not experts in immigration law. That’s where we come in.”

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There’s only way to interpret this: local law enforcement does not have the communication abilities to keep ICE updated and ICE isn’t providing the data they have down to local law enforcement. Bad communication. It really is that simple. Had the locals been able to key a database and find out that the perp they just arrested for rape, arson, or child molestation was an illegal, they would be aware of the need to talk to ICE when that person is released. Better still, they could simply update that database with the arrest and (potential) release information and keep ICE updated in real time. These systems do work when they’re designed properly. I build systems just like this and they can be both secure and robust.

This is a good start and it suggests positive enhancements that could be made. Hopefully, someone at ICE is thinking the same thing.

Texas A&M President makes a stand

Ever since 9/11, there have been a few radical fringe whackos suggesting that the US government not only controlled those aircraft that day but also brought down the WTC through the use of controlled demolition charges. Recently, a retired professor has come out in favor of that theory claiming that the way the towers dropped show that it was a demolition, not an attack. There are people out there in America who are so desperate to paint the Bush administration in as bad a light as possible that they’ll latch onto anything to make accusations and this one’s no different. Academia being what it is these days (think Ward Churchill), I was totally prepared to have the Texas A&M leadership either completely ignore it or give us some hand-wringing whine about academic freedom.

I am pleasantly surprised.

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The following is a statement from Texas A&M University regarding recent news reports about the collapse of the World Trade Center on 9-11. Dr. Morgan Reynolds is retired from Texas A&M University, but holds the title of Professor Emeritus-an honorary title bestowed upon select tenured faculty, who have retired with ten or more years of service. Additionally, contrary to some written reports, while some faculty emeriti are allocated office space at Texas A&M, Dr. Reynolds does not have an office on the Texas A&M campus. Any statements made by Dr. Reynolds are in his capacity as a private citizen and do not represent the views of Texas A&M University. Below is a statement released yesterday by Dr. Robert M. Gates, President of Texas A&M University: “The American people know what they saw with their own eyes on September 11, 2001. To suggest any kind of government conspiracy in the events of that day goes beyond the pale.”

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Now, that’s how you stand up for ethical behavior in academia. Perhaps Dr. Gates would be so kind as to hold a symposium on the topic in, say, Colorado? Excellent job, Doctor. You’re proof that our university environments aren’t lost causes sir, and I salute you.

Hat tip: LGF