September 21, 2010, Milestones of various kinds
The ever indefatigable Andy Worthington wants us to know that Omar Khadr, the almost-certainly-innocent juvenile prisoner who American personnel have been abusing (and most likely torturing) for the last 8 plus years, and whose own government of Canada has been joining in the abuse, who stands accused as a "war criminal" of conduct (hurling a grenade in combat that killed a soldier) that is not actually a war crime, and who was likely unconscious at the time of the incident, and who was only 15 at the time of the incident and, despite the fact that "the evidence" against him consists of his own statements while-being-tortured, is nonetheless the Obama Administration's literal poster-child for military commissions... turned 24 years old.
At five months or so, the BP Horizon Deepwater well "is dead"... since most of the oil didn't wash up on shore where people and t.v. cameras could see it, the fact that miillions and millions of gallons of crude oil are under water harming marine life for years and years... well, see above re: t.v. cameras... "problem solved!" That's how the world works now: if a tree falls in the forest and network and cable aren't there to see and hear it... it didn't happen.
And hence... we must have missed it, since economists (talk about the dismal science) declared that "the recession ended over a year ago." Huh.
And since we've just passed the 9th anniversary of "9-11," I should also let you know that a few days ago, probably 18 September, we also passed the 9th anniversary of this blog, so gather those rosebuds.
And as such, as we approach nine years since the start of the never-ending-and-now-escalating-war-in-Afghanistan, this seems an excellent time to reflect on the nearly nine score or so poor bastards still being warehoused at Guantanamo... and once again, we thank Andy for the first and second installments of his .eight part series discussing just who the remaining prisoners at Guantanamo are. Andy has been tirelessly at this subject for years. [Those of you in a position to do so might want to consider pitching in a few quid to support his one of a kind efforts.]
This has been... "Milestones of various kinds."