What better symbol of American ideals standing strong in the face of the threat of terrorism could we ask for? What better way to atone for the war crimes exemplified by Gitmo than to have a fair trial? Military tribunals strip defendants of civil rights. "But these are terrorist" the right will say "they aren't Americans, they gave up their claims to rights when they decided to slaughter indiscriminately". The thing about America is that it is built on an ideal that rights are not given or taken, but inherent. A terrorist shouldn't take that away from us which is what happens when we decide that not everyone deserves a fair trial. We describe the people in Gitmo as "enemy combatants" specifically so we could try them by tribunal, but we did this after ignoring habeus corpus, the 6th amendment, the Geneva convention, rules of engagement, and the dictates of most secular and religious moral systems. I think we can go ahead and give them a fair trial without feeling like we are letting them off easy. A more compelling question, in my opinion, is whether an "impartial jury" for this crime exists. Could a tribunal somehow be more "fair"?  View

House down, senate and reconciliation to go. Its about time we as a nation realized cooperation benefits everyone more (in quality, price, and coverage) than blindly pursuing our own interests when a resource is of critical importance. Will it cost money? YES, I and I am the first to volunteer to have my taxes raised. I'll gladly pay for something we ALL need. Just like I gladly pay taxes to pay for the USPS, public roads, police, and our military just to name a few things. All those lamenting socialism need to look up the word. We've had socialist programs for centuries. This reform only proposes to add a new resource to the list of those that are so critical and widely needed that they should be socialized to provide the most coverage and efficiency. In fact basic health care is already socialized and rationed via the mandate that no one can be turned away from the ER. What we have currently is just an extremely inefficient way to go about it, thus the reform bill.  View

To the person who claimed they didn't consent to be taxed for the benefit of the poor, yes you did. You agreed to the terms of the social contract of the united states the very first time you voted. You agreed to abide by the rules and restrictions imposed upon you by the elected representatives of the populace. In return for this infringement of absolute freedom, you receive certain benefits. First among those is the right to be protected from foreign invasion or insurrection by the military of the U.S. Second, you recieve service which you use every day. Running water, electrical grids and of course roads and highways are all part of the infrastructure which you enjoy in return for the stricture of governance. Of course you will say that the electrical system is private, and in specific you would be correct, but remember it took those companies using roads to build those line grids. No roads, no grid. So, when you say you shouldn't have to pay for those who have been less fortunate than you to recieve healthcare or any other service, remember you signed the contract when you first turned on you're tap.  View

This man should be stripped from any and all US Military ranking he ever had and stripped from any benefits whether he lives or dies! God Bless our troups! How could his religous beliefs not have played a roll in his decision to kill innocent Americans! He changed his clothing to support his beliefs, he shouted religous remarks, and randomly shot and killed those who served with him! He deserves what he gets; God (the one true God) Bless and keep those who serve One Nation under God! Blessings and Prayers for all of our troups!  View

It is hard to justify putting your life on the line for a government that you see as corrupt. Furthermore, Afghans don't have a sense of national identity the way that we think of it in the States. A highly tribal country, the nationalist values that we identify with military service here isn't manifest there. It also strikes me as paternal to have the make up and mission of a sovereign police force dictated by a foreign power. Haven't we learned our lesson? U.S. training is what brought the Taliban to pre-eminence in the first place. This has all happened before and it will all happen again.  View

The Western Empire (predominant U$) established Mujihadeen (Afghan), replaced by the Taliban, today rolled up with others into mythology called the Al-Qaeda, and the CIA cash crop of Afghan and Columbia finance the Military/Industrial perpetual war economy with a Check-Kiting Trade-Dollar in the absents of any morality or decency. Blame the Afghanistan (only) for not all dying in the 1979-2009 "Give Russia Their Own Vietnam" and our Military/Industrial needing a time to regroup (in Afghan) to eventually spread their 'Constabulary' world domination into other parts of the world.  View

The question of whether we should focus on Afghanistan v Pakistan is flawed, it is not an either or situation the two are inexorably linked. I also, think tribalism and economic concerns are two of the biggest factors informing the tenor of this war. Coverage tends to focus on the merits of hard power i.e. bombs dropped, troop numbers and military might, because you can't sell soft power solutions to the American public. The administration needs to find a favorable balance between the two and it needs to get on that post-haste.  View

Go in with overwhelming force (Colin Powell) with the goal of subdueing the Taliban or get out. These half measures just put a Band Aid on the problem and makes America look indecisive and weak to the Taliban. The delays are all about politics and appeasing speciial Democrat interest groups as opposed to military strategy  View

Don't close the, jail. Set up court bring the cameras and pres.Start military justice, then send them to America to serve there sentence.Why is this so hard?  View

Let me start by saying the newscaster was wrong by saying there had been a military coup there was no coup! Zelaya the previous president was trying to change the constitution and install himself president even after his term was up. The Honduran Supreme court had the military remove him. Secondly Honduras is in central America not South.  View