Thursday, January 08, 2009

Europe’s Gitmo Problem

French Navy dumps pirates on Puntland in violation of the European Court of Human Rights dictum that it is unlawful for an EU member state to engage in any kind of rendition that could expose a suspect, guilty or not, to the possibility of the death penalty.

Germans, on the other hand, are refusing to prosecute under international piracy laws unless German property is involved. This is more-or-less a precedent to not enforce the law of the sea and a sort of tacit deal-making measure with pirates without the need of any form of negotiation. It gives them free reign to pillage vessels in any area of the sea patrolled by German forces so long as they agree to leave German merchant vessels, or presumably ships travelling from Hamburg (which likely carry German property) alone.

So much for that globally involved “I’ve stopped cowering from life in this corner” thing where they were feeling all butch. For Deutschland, it’s the law of the sea for me, but not for thee. At the end of the day, the most important feature of European life is being servile in the face of ugliness so long as nobody notices this and makes you feel embarrassed after your social ideas kill another 150 million people. Do, please avert your gaze, for there are facts to be manipulated, twisted, or ignored

There is only one way to solve this problem: the EU clearly needs a Camp Delta at a Gitmo. I suggest that they do this at the French Military Base in nearby Djibouti, which has the advantage of not being in the EU and has a host government unwilling to challenge the French about their presence and practices. One where Europeans under the guise of being civil libertarians will not abuse broad-ranging laws to make a cottage industry out of freeing criminals. Since the problem effects international trade, the unstated underlying motive will fit hand-in-glove with anti-globalization initiatives seeking to promote an “altermondialiste/alternative world” where crime and violence that’s emotionally satisfying to 16-22 year olds is encouraged, and people will have to perform dental work on themselves.

So let’s review this again, shall we?: some Europeans are already saying that they won’t prosecute, they may not engage in rendition, even to states that don’t use allow for a death penalty, whatever pirates they pick up will be Gitmo-ized into “innocence”, they can’t be shot on site, and they certainly wouldn’t want to let them enter heaven on earth, even if just to be tried.

Do tell, what options do they have left?

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