<do we give these men a pass after what they did?>
Most of them were common foot soldiers, who never had any useful intelligence.
Most of them are Taliban, not Al Queda. The Taliban were the national government. When we invaded, the Taliban held 90% of the territory, which is about 89% more than the present "government" controls. Most of them were probably conscripts, fighting for their country against a foreign invader. Just as any American would do, if the situation were reversed. Perhaps a small fraction, at most, are committed ideological Taliban or Al Queda who actually know (knew, rather) something useful.
And some of them, as our military has admitted, weren't soldiers at all. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time, mistakenly captured by one of the militias, and turned over to the U.S., and sent to Guantanamo by mistake.
We are still holding them, not because they are a source of intel (how could they be, after two years?), but because we don't know what else to do with them. Which is a rather sorry reason for giving several hundred people life sentences. |
