>Detaining them with probable cause is one thing. Chucking them in a cell and leaving them there until the end of time with no due process at all is another thing entirely.

You keep talking about "due process".. I know that sounds noble - but what the hell is "due process" in this context? That's exactly the problem and why this isn't easy.

>
>Why would we be detaining Taliban, though? They're despicable but I don't see that they're our problem to solve.

When we invaded Afghanistan it was because the government - the Taliban - harbored and abetted those who attacked us. What's so hard to understand about that? They were the enemy, we won, they are now the enemy of the government in Afghanistan with whom we have an alliance and are committing atrocities (still) against the people of both Afghanistan and Pakistan - two "friendly" "nations"

I realize they haven't done anything really horrible like propose school vouchers or put up a cresh in the public square, but c'mon, are you really asking if the Taliban are our enemies? We don't need to "solve" them, just wipe them out where they are a problem for us. (after reading them their rights, of course)

>
>>But thank God we didn't detain any of those Taliban without due process. That would have been an atrocity.
>>
>>
>>>>>>Yeah, we're pretty much on the same page on that one. If they were a legitimate green-light with a red-dot on them I would think their welfare isn't the top priority..l
>>>>>
>>>>>Qustion is ;
>>>>>Were they leigitimate 'green-light with a red-dot on them' targets at first place ?
>>>>>It is on thing to capture and then detain real terrorists as in let say those ex intelligence 'assets',
>>>>>(hence that Omar Khalid Al-Whatever and allegedly even OBL himeself), while it is different to 'red-dot' and then detain some angry Afganistan sheppards for holding guns in vicinity of their own homes.
>>>>>Circumstances and indept unbiased examination would of big importance here.
>>>>>
>>>>>{Political satire on}
>>>>>If you are talking about true AQ hardliners with some of them being even 'ex assets' , then I might even support that 'middle of the sea idea', provided that they are dropped there along with entire hierarchy of their ex recruiters, from the middlemen and all the way to the
>>>>>top {vbg}
>>>>>But Naah. That is barbaric.
>>>>>{Political satire off}
>>>>>
>>>>>Fair trials (preferably public) in a proper courts would be perhaps much more productive (and interesting) for everybody.
>>>>
>>>>And it would be really cool when we layed out as part of the evidence all sources of intelligence ( I mean those that haven't already been published in the New York Times)
>>>>
>>>>AQ would be feeding us people just so they could watch the trials on TV and take notes.
>>>>
>>>>But of course we'd feel good about ourselves and the man on the street in Karachi and Kandehar would think well of us, and that's what's really important <s>
>>>
>>>I just read an article yesterday about things continuing to deteriorate even further in Pakistan, if that was possible. The Taliban have taken over an area near the major population centers (not off in the remote regions) and are terrorizing the population. There are daily killings and beheadings, fresh bodies steadily turning up in town squares, for "crimes" against sharia. Dancing, playing music, watching DVDs, that kind of thing. They even announce over the radio the night before who is going to be executed. The police and government are unable or unwilling to stop it. In fact so many policemen have been executed by the Taliban that most of them have resigned. In some cases they have placed ads in the paper saying so, to be sure the Taliban know. What a hellhole.
>>>
>>>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/world/asia/25swat.html?scp=2&sq=taliban&st=cse
>>>
>>>UPDATE: Uh, it's the policemen still alive who are resigning ;-)