Your points are well taken. Given that, I believe that the process by which that occurred will be of great interest. Not only his changing psychological state, but the actual places and people that he came into contact with on this bizarre journey. This guy can likely reveal a good deal about the network that moves(d) people from around the world toward the battlefield, be it in Kashmir, Afghanistan, the Philippines, elsewhere.
I think its going to take some time for people interested in this to regard this guy as 'expendable'. Like I said he will be on ice for some time. I regard calls for his quick death as very shortsighted. Keeping him around is likely to give us information that may save at least a few lives.
I'm also interested in seeing just what the judgement is on his status. If he is not a POW you feel he is a traitor. But prior to Sept 11, though we were antagonistic towards the Taliban, we also have a history of providing them with aid. A deeper investigation may even provide information that covert forces served with them in the past.
Then there is the question of how much did he know and when. Did at some point he denounce his citizenship?
Was he aware that US forces were on the ground. The kind of technical bs that could be discussed for days and is basically meaningless given the facts, but might be enough to provide a technical loop hole.
So here is a guy that went off to war in other countries. He's finally taken prisoner by a foreign force during a civil war (?) . I believe that the US has called for prisoners of conflicts that bear some resemblance to this one, to be treated fairly and even mentioned 'rules of war', conventions, ectra. So what rules apply and what rules does the US support?
And now that he is in US hands the matter is even more complicated. As unpopular as he may be, it only makes him more of a potential problem to have him killed. Trying him as a traitor is only likely if he is judged to be of little value, and some event(s) occur in the near future that would make a show trial like that politically positive.
The legal and political implications all sum negative. Keeping him alive, but out of the way appears the option that is the least negative. And holding him for a while will allow the situation to mature and may even make it unnecessary to consider some of the most thorny questions.
Its likely that he's going to spend a lot of his life in solitary confinement. Which from my view, is a lot worse punishment than simply a bullet or a noose. Its the kind of Purgatory that might even drive him sane. Which would turn it into a real Hell. |
