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HI9 History in English students at Espoon Yhteislyseo Upper Secondary School in Finland have written these letters to the editor to better understand American politics and history.
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May 23rd, 2016
Editors Pekka Tyynelä Marko Laitinen Santeri Aho Morva Motavali
Max Aksela
Melda Demirci
Zuber Musse
Letters to the Editor
Sir,
Having read the article "Enough to make you gag" in the Economist (May 4th 2013), I believe that
Guantanamo Bay is an evil place where nothing good happens. I share the writer's opinion and
think that this monstrosity needs to be stopped. Surely, I can imagine that some of the people are
there for a reason, but it is pointless to keep them there without pressing charges, not to mention
torture them without just cause.
The American people need to take action and convince the politicians to give the people at
Guantanamo a fair trial. Reports say that most of them are probably innocent and I think that
keeping an innocent person in prison without giving them a proper trial is a crime against
humanity. "Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and
impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge
against him", declares the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. There is no crime that a person
can commit that would justify torture.
Young men can also do something other than sit inside waiting for their fate. They could be given
therapy or something similar to help them to survive in the near future. Maybe some day, if they
are found innocent, they could live normal lives.
Concerned American Citizen
Source: Wikimedia.
“Guantanamo
captives wait during
processing on
January 11th, 2002.
Sir,
Having read ''Enough to make you gag'' in The Economist (May 4th 2013), I was delighted to hear
that prisoners were being tortured and in my opinion they absolutely deserve it. Terrorism is a
serious problem these days and I think everyone who is linked to terrorist activity should put in a
prison like Guantanamo Bay. The world would be a safer and much better place without terrorists!
According to the article, there are about 100 detainees in Guantanamo Bay who are on hunger
strike and doctors try to forcefeed them if they refuse to eat. Why do we even try to forcefeed
them? If they don't want to eat, let them starve to death. I bet they will eat some time before they
die.
Barack Obama has tried to shut down Guantanamo Bay, or that's what he has said. Honestly, I
don't believe that at all. I'm sure that the President of the USA has the power and the authority to
shut down Guantanamo Bay if he wants to, but I don't think that the government wants to close
the prison camp. If the prison was shut down and the detainees set free, the government would
be taking an enormous risk.
After all Guantanamo Bay is the right place for terrorists. The detainees deserve their misery and
their don't have any right to complain. Guantanamo Bay definitely makes world safer!
Patriotic American Citizen, 58 Years Old
Source: Wikimedia. Caption: Camp Delta, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Sir,
Having read your article “Colin Powell says closing Guantanamo Bay 'in best interest' of the US”
(25th February 2016) in the Independent, I strongly believe that Guantanamo Bay prison should
not be closed. I don't understand why anybody would even want it closed. That facility holds
dangerous terrorists who may be able to lead us to other dangerous terrorists who are a great
threat to our freedom. Who knows what could happen if these people weren't locked up in
Guantanamo!
As a mother of three beautiful daughters, my main concern is the safety and freedom of my family
and loved ones. My husband is an Iraq veteran and he has told several stories about how
dangerous terrorists are and how they can surprise you at any moment. One of his fellow soldiers
even lost a leg when their squad was ambushed by terrorists at the local Iraqi food market, and a
few days later two other soldiers died when an undetected car bomb exploded.
But I have to admit that General Colin's thoughts aren't complete nonsense. At least he wants to
move the prisoners of Guantanamo Bay to other US prisons and not completely free them like
some Democratic lunatics have suggested.
I know torturing people for information and keeping them locked up for years in Guantanamo Bay
may sound unpleasant, but think about it, sometimes it might just be the only way to keep our
country safe.
God bless America.
Sincerely,
MaryBeth Bryant
Housewife and a mother
467 Freedom Avenue
Mississippi, the United States of America
Sir,
I'm writing in response to your opinion article in the Washington Times ( August 2, 2015). In the
article you bring up the issue of terrorism and as you mentioned, ‘’misguided’’ politicians. It seems
like you are unhappy with the lack of initiatives about annihilating the Islamic States in the middle
east and the terrorists. You also talk against the nuclear deal with Iran that came to an agreement
last year.
I must say that I see eye to eye with you about the issue of terrorism. I also happen to think that
radical Islamic roots must be exterminated in their infancy. It's almost impossible to eliminate
terrorism in the world, but by making good decisions and taking the issue seriously enough might
help to reduce it. Going to war with them is a good choice in my opinion however it also means
that innocent people must be left out of it. Unfortunately, leaving innocent people out of wars is a
hard task to accomplish.
What I strongly disagree with is your almost paranoid thinking that Iran will eventually start a
nuclear war with the USA in 10 years. You think that the nuclear deal was a huge mistake. In my
opinion, the nuclear deal is a big thing not only for America and Iran but to the whole world.
Lifting all the sanctions will open a lot of doors in the economic and financial world. It benefits
everyone. I'm not denying the fact that there might be a risk that Iran will use its nuclear power
wrongfully in future. However, it isn’t impossible to solve this problem with certain agreements
between the two countries.
I think that the cooperation between the USA and Iran is important judging by the history these
two have with each other. Cooperating with Iran might actually help reduce terrorism since it's in
the middle of the troubled areas.
Western countries aren't the only target of
terrorism.
Sincerely,
IranianAmerican
Caption: Iran’s nuclear deal by Afeez Adebayo.
Source: www.africannewstoday.com.
Sir,
Having read Lydia Tomkiw’s article “Immigration Reform 2016: Where Do Donald Trump, Hillary
Clinton And Other Presidential Candidates Stand?” in the International Business Times (February 29th, 2016), I strongly believe that the US is on the wrong path. So many candidates just want to
deport the Mexican immigrants, even building a damn wall! As Trump declares, “Let’s make
America great again!”
Already in 1910 during The Mexican Revolution, many Mexicans immigrated to the US and it
wasn’t a problem at all, because the US happily accepted more labour for their use.The US has
always been “the melting pot”, having so many different cultures in it. Why are the immigrants a
problem now? Why Mexicans especially? Though there are many illegal Mexican immigrants, it
doesn’t mean there could be only one solution to fixing the problem, building a wall isn’t the only
way.
Trump says, “We want people to come into our country but we want them to come into our
country legally,” which is definitely reasonable. Once he claimed that the Mexican illegal workers
steal legal American citizens jobs.
However, building a wall won’t help at all, it would instead trigger chaos and maybe make things
even worse. The wall would make people anxious, and create a restless situation between
Mexicans and Americans. The Mexicans aren’t stealing our jobs, we just aren’t taking the jobs
when we had the opportunity. Now that the Mexicans
took the jobs, you start blaming them.
Obviously there isn’t anything to “make great again,”
America is damn great already, and if something is
wrong with America, you certainly can’t blame
Mexicans for it. This is the melting pot, you can’t just
take one ingredient of the sauce out once it’s mixed
up.
Maximilius
Source: Wikimedia.
Sir,
I wish to respond to your article, Rothman Lily “Why the United States controls Guantanamo Bay”
in Time, Jan. 22, 2015 accessed April 21, 2016. The article tells readers mainly about
Guantanamo's history, how it was opened and what it was used for. Just like President Obama, I
agree about closing Guantanamo Bay. It was first a Navy base for the US, but now it's a facility for
holding terrorists or terrorist suspects. In other words, it's a prison. Since Guantanamo isn't on US
soil, the officials working there can break laws and violate, for example, human rights. After the
9/11 incident, Pentagon decided to hold their captured terrorists in Guantanamo. They also
allowed the use of excessive interrogation methods or that's what the US have said at least. To
me, it's torture. Here are some examples: sleep deprivation, solitary confinement, forced
medication, mock executions and other horrible torture techniques. These interrogation methods
are inhuman and unforgivable.
To conclude, Guantanamo Bay must be closed immediately. However, the recent terrorist attacks
on Europe could have made closing the facility down difficult and the US is probably afraid of a
repeat of 9/11, note that the facility is still active. What I am trying to say is that the US should
close Guantanamo Bay down and imprison the terrorists somewhere else on their own soil (so the
US officials won’t break any laws) ,and they can be treated as any other prisoners and also release
the suspects who don't have any connections to the terrorists.
Sincerely,
American Muslim
Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/494481234057541453/
Sir,
I was shocked when I read the article "Guantanamo is being emptied but its legacy of making the
guilty innocent and the innocent guilty will continue" by Robert Fisk in The Independent (31 March
2016) because as a democratic European I believe that Americans are democratic and not
inhuman.
It is a humiliating and cruel treatment for the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. They are treated like
animals which are not worth something by for example making them feel bad or shouting and
yelling at them. It is not unacceptable how inhuman the prison guards are. Nobody should be in
Guantanamo Bay as a prisoner.
The prisoners would like to die instead of being there. For example they go on a hunger strike, but
the prison guards forcefed them even sometimes strapped down because they do not want to let
them die. Guantanamo Bay is just torture for all inmates. The inmates are losing their freedom
and humanity there. They have nothing there, no law, no lawyer and no life.
A lot of people, Americans, Europeans, Asians and even the president of the USA is for closing
Guantanamo Bay. I also agree with them. Guantanamo Bay is no place for a human. It is a violent,
freedomless and inhuman place. We can not stay quiet about it!
Sincerely,
European Muslim
Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/garryknight/6731718887