Lulu of a situation , isn't it?

Before we Brits get too self righteous about it, I came across a couple of book reviews this weekend which made me think hard. Both books about the supression of the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya. In the reviews it pointed out that we Brits had grabbed all the good land in Kenya, and we hanged over 1000 people that we had detained - basically defending the rights of a few rich bastards. The fairness of those trials and the complaints procedure probably left a bit to be desired. I was living when all this was going on, but i don't remember it in the papers or on the radio.

In a way these people in Guantanamo Bay are lucky that they fell into American hands rather than ours. America is a lot more open society. You may not like everything Americans do, but at least they are open about it.

Bearing in mind the war is still pretty much in progress - in that English and American troops are still putting their lives on the line every day, what exactly is being suggested in this thread. In no war is it sensible practice to release suspected third columnists. And as for humanitarian treatment - we are pitted against an enemy which routinely decapitates hostages

Perhaps when these elections are over we will be able to let the Iraqis sort out their own complaints procedures. If they choose to go back to the ones in place when Saddam Hussein was running things, which looks a distinct possibility (how else are they to get the trains running on time?) perhaps being in England under surveillance sue-ing the arse off the government for wrongful arrest will turn out to be the most acceptable outcome of being involved on the fringes of not terribly nice people.