Disgrace at Guantanamo: Treat the POWs humanely By Warren Bluhm News-Chronicle We had a flurry of stories about German prisoners of war last month when Betty Crowley came to visit Door County. She's the author of a book called "Stalag Wisconsin," which recounts the story of the 13,000 Germans who were held in 38 rural Wisconsin camps during World War II. Some of those camps were in Door County, and the POWs were pressed into service to help with the cherry harvest. Many of the people who would usually pick those cherries were overseas fighting the Axis. The prisoners were treated better than their leaders were treating American POWs and, certainly, better than the Jews and other minorities who resided in Nazi concentration camps. Crowley quotes one German who, asked if he'd like to escape, replied, "What, run away from this? Why, this is heaven. The war is over for us, and we are getting much better treatment than we ever would get over there." You have to think perhaps that gentleman was exagerrating, knowing that an American would want to hear a reply like that. But the United States did have a reputation for compassion, and the prisoners did have contact with the community where they were held. Fast forward about 60 years and, instead of the orchards of Door County, let's visit a U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Reporter Jane Fritsch of the Chicago Tribune wrote about that base recently: "The spartan, hastily built prison camp now has 660 inmates who have been granted no rights under U.S. military or civilian law, international law or the Geneva Conventions ... "Lawyers have filed a petition with the Supreme Court in an attempt to win legal rights in some court for the detainees. Former diplomats, judges and government officials have filed friend-of-the-court briefs in support of the petition, as has an association of British lawyers. And the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a Freedom of Information Act request for documents that might show whether the men are being tortured. "But the rush of activity is lost on the detainees, who have been described as living in boredom, isolation and despair. They almost certainly don't know that any of this is going on, according to lawyers working on their behalf. In fact, they probably don't know that they have lawyers, and many still may not even know where they are ... "Just who these men are and what may have caused them to end up in the camp is unknown. The Defense Department has refused to release their names or even say what countries they are from. "Most of that information has come out in a circuitous route, relayed piecemeal to governments whose citizens are being held ... "The Bush administration has remained steadfast in its position that the detainees do not qualify for prisoner-of-war status - and thus the rights accorded to prisoners of war - because they were 'unlawful combatants.' Nor are they entitled to due process under American law because they technically are in Cuba, notwithstanding that the base is under U.S. control." Let's stop playing semantics: These people are prisoners of war. They were "detained" in the early days of what has been described as a war on terrorism. Either it's a war or it's not - and if it is a war, whatever rights belong to prisoners of war belong to the "detainees." When the Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran captured 44 U.S. citizens and declared that the United States was "the Great Satan," we had to laugh because, after all, the United States always treated its prisoners with greater decency than most other countries treated their citizens. A quarter-century later, the United States is being asked embarrassing questions about its 660 hostages. Jeffrey Dahmer, who murdered and ate boys and young men, was granted more rights than these prisoners of war. And don't tell me how the POWs are not U.S. citizens: The Constitution affirms the rights of prisoners under the U.S. legal system; it does not preserve those rights only for prisoners who are citizens. What is happening in Guantanamo is not just an affront to basic human decency and the conventions of war. What is happening in Guantanamo is simply un-American. Bluhm is editor of the Door County Advocate and former managing editor of The News-Chroncile. His column appears Tuesdays. Contact him via e-mail at [email protected] or call 920-743-3321.