Originally Posted by zen_tom

An eye for an eye eh djtestudo?

How do you imagine they will respond then? Have you ever heard of a thing called escalation?

You do something bad, they do something worse. You do something worse, they do something even worse. You do something evil, they do something even more evil.

See the pattern?

You must offer the enemy the kindness and humanity that you would hope to receive from them, otherwise you can expect none whatsoever.

There is always a chance to rescue the civillisation that gets lost in war, and everyone on each side has a chance to do it, with every action they take. Whether it's laying down their weapons and going home, or extending some kindness in a detention centre, we're all people, and even under the worst circumstances, there are some of us who have the strength not to act like animals.

I have no idea how many people died at Guantanimo bay, but there are people who have been locked up there for far too long considering many haven't been charged with any crime, and the US had no jurisdiction in the country where they were captured.

We are not at war. In the dictionary, war is described as:

a state of open and declared armed hostile conflict between political units such as states or nations; may be limited or general in nature.

Well there are no states or nations that we are at war with, they don't exist. We should be conducting a Police Operation. But the "Police Operation Against Terror" doesn't have as catchy a ring to it as a full blown war.

Police Operations are civillised, normally. There are rules. Justice must be seen to be served, fairly and blindly.

To call this thing a war, and believe it is the saddest thing, as you, djtestudo (and others here on this board and elsewhere) have just proven when you suggest we descend to the level of depravity of the criminals we seek to bring to justice.

That's why this talk is worthwhile, because we are not at war, and we really should be displaying all the civillisation we can right now.