I’m not really a politcal guy. Forgive me for harping on this. But honestly, that fact (if it is indeed true) that 35,000 human beings are in American secret prisons is simply astonishing. And according to Colin Powell’s old chief of staff, only around 5% have anything to do with terrorism.
Why this is connected to the topic of this site here. In short, the data trails we all leave across the web can get us into some really serious shit, thanks to the current administration’s view of habeas corpus and national security law.
I would like to see more people asking these questions . . . Is this truly in our best interest? Whatever we give, we will soon get, and is this the world we want to support? I have my concerns.
John don’t apologize for political notes.
“All tech and no politics make blogs dull boys”
That said I don’t think we have enough info to be more concerned more about this than far more pressing issues of people dying by the thousands – daily – in many other places of easily preventable causes.
Critics should get at least a few names of people who are not a threat yet are in the secret prisons so we can get a sense that so many innocents are languishing there. I remain skeptical but I’m always open minded.
Well, the thing is, Wilkerson has been out of government since the second inaugural. He left with Powell, so his information is probably more like speculation.
How do you hide 35,000 prisioners? Who is guarding them? Where do they house the guards? How are food and other supplies delivered in secret?
It costs money and resources to imprision people. Why are they paying to imprision people who are not terrorists?
the thing is, Wilkerson has been out of government since the second inaugural
According to one comment in the linked post, Wilkerson “only recently quit”.
The CIA prisons are meant to be located in Eastern Europe. Not sure whether i believe the figure though.
The full truth will come out about Bush’s nasty secrets, all the ‘evil’ he has sanctioned in the name of ‘freedom’.
The fault lies in the society who asked to be lead by him. There will be a generation of people who will deny they ever voted for him, but a whole lots of people did vote for him.
Do you get lawyers in secret prisons ?
Do you get charged ?
Do you know your parole date ?
Do human rights get upheld ?
It’s beyond shameful.
It’s pretty sad, but quite easy to accomplish. We’ve appropriated $1.862 TRILLION dollars for FYE 2006. The amount needed to house 35,000 prisoners housed in foreign gulags wouldn’t even effect the rounding necessary to get to that figure.
Nice to see some thoughts about real world issues from you John. We all know how informed you are when it comes to technology, but it’s nice to see some of your personal thoughts on the world we live in.
Kudos.
One positive aspect to the widespread dispersion, indexing, and mirroring of personal information is that it becomes more difficult – or impossible – for people to “disappear” without leaving behind traces outside of the control of the local government.