Solving Problems

"Strong reasons make strong actions." ~ William Shakespeare

Yesterday, there were two events that headlined the news. One issue was the flag burning ban which was defeated in Congress by a narrow margin, and the other was a decision handed down by the Supreme Court striking down the President's handling of Iraqi War detainees, specifically, if I understand it right, making it law to try them in a civilian court rather than by Military tribunal.

I have a couple of brief statements about these events:

First, I believe that every citizen has a right to burn the flag if he is hateful of America enough to do so, but I think there ought to be some governmental regulations regarding it, to wit:

The flag to be burned must be made of a material that will not emit harmful or poisonous gases or hazardous materials while burning. It must be made of a material that doesn't smoke. We cannot allow the flag burner to pollute the air. Second hand smoke, we are told, is a major cause of cancer in people who don't smoke.

Also, we must require that the potential flag burner apply for a permit to burn the flag and require him to fill out forms (in triplicate) with information as to his name, social security number, address, phone numbers, bank account information, credit card information, and at least two forms of valid ID. He must also register for an "enemies of America list", so his anti-American activities can be monitored at all times. He must be required to submit to random drug testing and search and seizure at any time the government feels he may be planning a terrorist attack on America. All of his friends and relatives and casual acquaintances should be scrutinized, at any time and without a reason.

Secondly, on the issue of criminal trials for non-uniformed enemy combatants taken as prisoner in the GWOT:

This issue can be dealt with and disposed of quite simply. We only need to do what our erstwhile enemies do when they take prisoners.

Kill them.

I suppose it would be remiss of me to suggest we torture them indescribably, behead them, and then desecrate and mutilate their bodies. After all, we are civilized Americans, aren't we?

But the problem can be solved simply by not taking prisoners in the first place. At least, not keeping prisoners one minute after they have convinced us they either know nothing of value, or have convinced us we can learn no more than they have already told us. Once we obtain the information we desire from them, or, in case they refuse to talk, they are only taking up space and wasting oxygen.

If we try them or release them, there is always the very real possibility that they will only go back to doing what they were doing when we captured them, namely, blowing up innocent civilians and our soldiers.

So execute them.

No need for either a civilian court or a Military Tribunal. Just kill them. They would no doubt do the same to us.

There. Problems solved. And all before lunch! Oh, I love it when things zip along!