Interesting, thank you all for your views. I hope more will contribute. RnderSafe I would be interested to hear what you have to say on the topic. My points really are these:
1. Yes, there may be international terrorists who have been brought back from Afganistan. However, many it seems were simply Taliban fighters. Whether you agree with the Taliban government or not (and may I point out that I most certainly do not), they have a very good case for arguing that they were simply defending their country against an attack from other nations, in which case there should be POWs.
2. Any 'POWs' should have been returned long ago, even if it is to an Afgani jail for crimes committed before we went in. We must be seen to be uphold ingthe legitimacy of the Afgani government or we will be back at square one before we know it. If it was wrong for the Vietnamese to keep US pilots as captives long after the war ended then so is it wrong to keep these men.
3. What are we the democratic west fighting for at the moment? Surely it is the right to live our lives the way that we have chosen to without fear of attack, that is as democratic, multi-cultural nation states who live by their own constitutions and sets of laws. Yet at a time where we are on the verge of what could be the major conflict of our generation between western democracies and fundementalist Islamic states we are now ignoring what we hold so dear, and working outside what we deem to be acceptable treatment of our own citizens. If the treatment these men are getting is outside what we deem to be acceptable then how can we convince other nations that our way of living is legitiamte?
4. My solution: the Int boys have had more than long enough to gain any int they need. Any men who were fighting for the Talaban should either be held as POWs or sent back to Afganistan. Any terrorists should be tried in civilian courts using existing anti-terrorist legislation and imprisoned in normal jails - we have learned in Northern Ireland that politising terrorists only gives them added legitimacy - terrorism is a crime, therefore they are criminals.
In summary, the detentions at Guantanamo Bay make us look scared and makes our system of Government look weak. There is no ideal solution, but there must be something better than the situation we find ourselves in now.
I am now putting on my flak jacket and kevlar lid preparing for the inevitable accusations of being soft. But beforeyou reply, please just think of the big picture, what we are fighting for, and if any means justify the end?