Friday September 11, 2009, 2:04 pm
A person must know the evidence against them while they are being held.

Friday September 11, 2009, 7:22 pm
Thanks Eleanor.

Saturday September 12, 2009, 12:20 pm
Eleanor, I feel like writing again on this matter. I am glad you posted it as a warning to the US. Your concern for our country mean a lot.

Saturday September 12, 2009, 1:26 pm
Thanks Eleanor.

Saturday September 12, 2009, 6:13 pm
Thank you Eleanor.

Saturday September 12, 2009, 6:19 pm
I Used To Be Proud of my Country

I use to be proud to be British
I thought its cause was just
but now I not so sure of that
I’ve been made to think again

I used to be proud to be British
I thought its justice was fair
but now I’ve seen the other side
I see things differently now

I used to be proud to be British
Its Union flag flew up high
but now we been made part of
dark deeds that shouldn’t be

I used to be proud to be British
and held my head up high
but that was before our wars
and these secret torture camps

I used to be proud to be British
but now I hang my head
we lock up innocent people
before deporting them for death.

I am no longer proud of my country
its name now means shame
we are worse that many others
because we should know better.

David © 9th September 2008

Saturday September 12, 2009, 11:19 pm
Thanks Eleanor and noted. No one should be held anywhere without knowing what they are charged with and they should have access to a lawyer. This being held indefinitely without access to a lawyer is beyond ridiculous and unfair!

Sunday September 13, 2009, 11:24 am
Thank you everyone for noting and commenting. David, I never thought much about being British until I was about 21. Before that I dogged the school when I was 16 to go and see Harold Wilson when he was coming to Glasgow and he shook my hand outside Glasgow Central Station and the more I know about him the happier I am that I went to see him. Later that day I was in Green's Playhouse where he spoke to 3000 people. At the end to his discomfort the 3000 in the audience sang the International not the Red Flag. I definitely belong with that audience's feelings about the world but I don't forget that Wilson categorically refused to get us involved in Vietnam. He may have made mistakes but he did us proud on that score. Compare him now to Blair and Brown. When I was 21 I was told by someone who had to do National Service about the atrocities committed by British soldiers in Malaysia when they were putting down the Chinese uprising there in the 50s. He died an alcoholic because he could not deal with what he had done. I would not upset anyone by repeating his stories. The British were always brutal I think. To get back to now I can't imagine a government under Harold Wilson incarcerating people without charge or trial. Blair and New Labour have destroyed our civil liberties and the human rights of people who have done nothing but flee oppression and torture in their own lands - like Libya to name but one. So now if I had ever been proud to be British (I never thought in those terms) I would certainly not be. I see myself only as Scottish now and haste the day we get independence. We are a small country and it would be much easier I think to put pressure on a government not to do wrong. That would be my hope.

Sunday September 13, 2009, 2:01 pm
Great posts, Eleanor & David. Wasn't it the British who invented common law back in 1215, with the Magna Carta - from which the US Constitution evolved? David, your poem is very appropriate for both Afghanistan & Iraq wars; so is your commentary, Eleanor. Both PM's Blair & Brown (especially Blair) failed to stand up to the likes of Bush & Cheney vis-a-vis their wars of aggression against Afghanistan & Iraq. Aggressive war is the #1 war crime according to International law; namely, because it begets atrocities of mass murder, torture, etc. War crimes must be severely punished, no matter who commits them. The Rule of Law must be kept supreme.

Sunday September 13, 2009, 2:20 pm
The difference between Harold Wilson and Blair is that the former had principles and aspirations for ordinary people. He didn't go into politics for self-aggrandisement which Blair did. At least he started off as a socialist. This one joined the Labour Party because he saw it as the best bet for him to become an MP and thereafter the leader. How tragic for so many people that he managed it. The man is despicable. He is a war criminal yet he has the effrontery to strut the globe as if he were a statesman while adding to his fortune in the US. He has so much blood on his hands he should never sleep at night again. I cannot see him being tried for his crimes but I would be absolutely over the moon if he were. Thanks, Eileen. Magna Carta, habeas corpus? Do they even know their history? If they had ever read history, they wouldn't be in Afghanistan for a start.