“Adopt A Jihadist,” 2009

The BBC reports:

A senior Tory MP has joined calls for an inquiry into whether UK resident and former Guantanamo detainee Binyam Mohamed was tortured.

David Davis said he was “convinced” that Mr Mohamed was tortured and that the government may have known about – or even colluded with – the torture…

…He said if the allegations were true then “a huge number of laws had been broken”, and to attempt to cover it up was also a breach of the law…

Thus the ardent defender of British liberties, Mr Davis.  Undoubtedly, other “senior Tories” are thrilled he is working so closely with many of liberty’s greatest contemporary defenders.  Having Shami [I can darn well insinuate anything I feel like about George Bush publicly, but there are boundaries when you are talking about me, you know] Chakrabarti and Moazzam [two training camps] Begg in your column, can only but help close out any debate on its very highest note.

One wonders, though, whether Mr Davis has given much thought to another government, uh, initiative? Suppose Mr Mohamed (and others, such as even Mr Begg) had not been unfortunately captured in south Asia, to where he had travelled voluntarily?  What if he had not ended up in Guantanamo very much alive to be “tortured” disgracefully, and then released back to Britain?

There was another alternative.  British forces could well have instead also unfortunately shot Mr Mohamed right through the head when he exposed too much of it momentarily in their immediate battle presence in Helmand?  Then they would have unfortunately left his decomposing body unfortunately lying exposed in the Afghan sun, to be feasted upon slowly by vermin and insects, unfortunately forgotten on some isolated, unremembered hillside?

Four dead Japanese were probably killed by single shell-burst as they ran for cover at the side of the road. They were part of the Japanese 18th Infantry Division under General Shinichi Tanaka, who commanded forces which captured Singapore in 1942. Most of the fighting in northern Burma campaign was in sharp little battles like this with the retreating Japanese. What appears to be rice sprinkled on man in foreground is actually colony of maggots. (Life Magazine, April 10, 1944)

Presumably, Mr Davis would have demanded an inquiry in that event, too?  Nevermind, for the conjecture is happily unnecessary.  Mr Mohamed is now fortunately safely back here in Britain, as we know.

Curiously, in all the swirling discussion of that return, no one appears to have asked precisely why, as a non-British national “tortured” quite likely by British agents overseas — …Mr Mohamed claims he was tortured into falsely confessing to terrorism and alleges UK MI5 officers were complicit in his abuse… — he would ever wish to set foot again in the country?  One would have thought Britain was one of the last places on this planet he’d want to be?  After the hell-hole that is U.S., that is.

After all, it is potentially damn dangerous here.  The wind could suddenly change.  Months or even a year or two from now, could one not find oneself picked up capriciously at dawn and re-imprisoned here, and re-tortured?  No?

Moreover, what if he feels a compelling need to make another life-reaffirming journey to re-deal with his compelling personal issues again?  And suppose, for example, he finds himself once more inexplicably in Taliban-controlled areas of Afghanistan/Pakistan?  Suppose, when there, he is for no reason anyone can possibly fathom, accidentally re-imprisoned again?

This blog has never quite understood why jihadists, upon release, are not released exactly where they were captured?  Mr Mohamed was not caught in Surrey or Somerset.  Picked up in Afghanistan?  In Pakistan?  Well, why are they not released there?  With of course a gift of £100 cash (we’ll stretch to that: it is a small fortune in Afghanistan or in Pakistan) and humble apologies offered for any temporary inconvenience caused.

Too logical that, apparently.  Then visiting the States, yours truly missed Mr Mohamed’s “British homecoming.”  But Biased BBC’s David Vance had surely produced the line of the day for February 20, regarding the BBC’s moving coverage of the return of the non-native, non-citizen to his non-land, whose intelligence service had “tortured” him:

I see the BBC are drooling in anticipation that new Jihad poster boy Binyan Mohamed is due to come back to Blighty next week! Love the pic of him here posing beside the Thames - wonder was it tourism or reconnaissance?…

Before his “happy” re-landing, from his “full statement” just before that return “home”:

…I wish I could say that it is all over, but it is not. There are still 241 Muslim prisoners in Guantanamo.

Many have long since been cleared even by the US military, yet cannot go anywhere as they face persecution. For example, Ahmed bel Bacha lived here in Britain, and desperately needs a home…

Kinda touching, really.  Down to just “241 survivors” . . . in search of a home . . .