|
Apparently,
when the big Chinook kicked off, the SEAL fell out.
A 32-year-old guy named Neil Roberts. A petty officer
first class, one of the toughest in the American armed
forces, in the back of a big twin-rotor helicopter that
was taking fire.
And he went out the side. Nobody's exactly sure how.
But there's a lot of movement and a lot of wind and
a lot of gravity. And when they got close to base and
did the head count they were one shy.
That's Afghanistan.
Which is a long way from Cuba.
Where a hundred and more captured Al Qaeda prisoners
sit in cells waiting for lunch. A good Muslim lunch
designed to incorporate their traditional foods and
to be respectful of Islam's dietary guidelines. Just
like breakfast and supper. They eat good there, and
most of them have put on weight.
And most of them have been through the camp infirmary,
a fully functioning Army field hospital where they receive
the same medical care offered members of the American
military. In fact, in addition to treating any injuries
sustained in their capture, American specialists have
also treated orthopedic and cosmetic injuries sustained
in battle
months and years ago.
Al Qaeda detainees at Guantanamo Bay have received the
best of American medical and dental care--for free--being
given procedures and treatment simply unavailable in
their native lands.
And they've been given a Muslim chaplain, flown in especially
for them, and copies of the Koran, and a big sign points
the direction to pray toward Mecca and the five-times-a-day
Islamic call to prayer is played on the camp loudspeaker.
That's what's happening in Cuba.
And yet, activists and officials from around the world
have publicly condemned American treatment of the Al
Qaeda men captured in combat. Muslim governments, our
European allies, American leftist groups and Amnesty
International-types have all bitterly accused the United
States of being inhumane. Some have claimed there should
be a United Nations condemnation, many have called for
international inspectors to go in.
The call has been loud, almost deafening, as the world
has condemned and cursed the way Al Qaeda fighters have
been treated in captivity by Americans.
That's in Cuba.
Which is a long way from Afghanistan.
Where one of those Prowler unmanned surveillance planes
saw Petty Officer Roberts come out of the helicopter,
and lie there injured but alive and conscious. The bigwigs
saw this, live, back at headquarters.
And they also saw the three Al Qaeda guys come out of
the bush and grab him. He was their prisoner. Captured
in battle. And they grabbed him and dragged him and
took him away.
And then, it seems, they beat him, cut his throat.
And executed him.
They shot him too. A wounded man. A detainee. No medical
care, no food, no holy book, no chaplain. Just a bullet.
Which has produced silence on the part of the world's
activists.
Not one word.
Apparently it's OK to shoot a wounded prisoner, but
if you take him to a hospital and treat his injuries
and feed him, you've gone too far. Apparently killing
an American detainee is acceptable, while coddling an
Al Qaeda detainee is not. The same people who have seen
a war crime in the treatment of terrorists are unperturbed
by the slaughter of a prisoner of war.
We treat them with caring and compassion, and we get
cursed. They treat us with barbarism and butchery, and
they get blessed.
And that's not right.
Critics of the American detention of Al Qaeda terrorists
in Cuba aren't concerned about those terrorists, and
they don't give two hoots about human rights. What they
want to do is attack America, any way they can. The
great many people who hate the American people and culture
have rallied to the defense of the Cuba detainees.
And had nary a word of criticism for the pigs who executed
Neil Roberts in cold blood.
This war is about good versus evil -- no matter what
you hear. The forces of light are tackling the forces
of darkness. Civilization is taming savagery.
And Neil Roberts gave his life in that cause.
And, fortunately for them, the Al Qaeda detainees in
Cuba were captured by men instead of beasts.
by Bob Lonsberry 2002
|
