School Project Help

[Dragonus45]

Im doing a school project on Guantanimo Bay and the "illiegal" use of torture and i was wondering if anyone had links to some more balanced sites then a few that ive been too. I get to use my own opinion but i wanted to at least gat the other side of the argument in.

EDIT: Just to note I dont this to get political, i just wanted to ask if anyone knew a site with good info that wasn't to biased one way or the other.

[DraPrime]

Be careful with this thread. It could easily get locked for being a political thread.

[Dragonus45]

I dont want it to be political, i just wanted to get a few links to balanced sites.

[Serpentine]

I have a feeling you're probably mostly just gonna get stuff from one extreme or the other. I suggest looking on news sites (international ones for an even broader view - here's (http://search.sbs.com.au/search?q=Guantanamo+Bay++&site=default_collection&client=default_frontend&output=xml_no_dtd&proxystylesheet=default_frontend&x=28&y=9) what I got from a quick search on the Australian world channel) and maybe having a quick look at Wikipedia and the references.

[Dragonus45]

Wikipedia has mostly disapointed me. but thanks for the idea of using international news sites that should help with the bias problem. I kick myself for not thinking of it sooner. *WHAM*

[Cobra_Ikari]

The trick to getting less bias is to take things you know will be baised a certain way and compare them. It's not an exact science, but usually you can get at least some truth out of it.

[BlackStaticWolf]

Ok... here's the thing... you will never find a site that presents both sides in an unbiased way. The issue of torture is a hotly contested issue about which reasonable men may disagree. The simple fact is... everyone who writes on the issue is going to have a particular view point that they are espousing.

While I can't help you find a neutral source, I can point you in the direction of several extremely relevant items that you should search for.

1. The 2003 memo written by former Justice Department lawyer John C. Yoo. It's been heavily criticized (as has he... the criticisms launched at him aren't entirely fair). What you really want is to find a copy of the memo itself and NOT someone commenting on it. You want to see what the actual argument is, not what someone says it is.

2. You should also read up on the Detainee Treatment Act

3. You also want to check out some of the US Supreme Court cases that have dealt with the rights of the detainees. Notables are:
a. Rasul v. Bush, 542 U.S. 466 (2004) - held that Guantamo bay detainees must be given access to US courts
b. Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 126 S.Ct. 2749 (2006) - military tribunals used to try enemy combatants must conform to federal and international law

4. You should also read up on the fairly recent case of Boumediene v. Bush, 476 F.3d 981 (D.C. App. 2007) - please note, that's not the correct citation for that court... I just don't remember what the correct one is for the DC appellate circuit.

Keep in mind... the US Supreme Court has NOT addressed the issue of the torture of the detainees.

Hopefully, those tips will be helpful to you.

PS: Also, on THIS topic, international news sites are just as biased as American ones. Like I said... extremely divisive issue.

[Moff Chumley]

At least three prisoners at Guantano were waterboarded.
We know this for a fact.
Waterboarding=torture by most definitions.


These are the unbiased facts. Interpret them as you will. Relatively Unbiased Linky (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7229169.stm)