Although it is difficult to declare victory in Afghanistan with Osama bin Laden still at large, the conflict has definitely moved into a mopping-up stage as any sign of organized resistance has all but evaporated. Now the military must deal with new, and in some ways more difficult, problems.
Like what to do with the mounting number of former Taliban and al-Qaida fighters who now find themselves to be prisoners of war in the hands of the nation they sought to destroy.
A short-term plan has already been devised for these prisoners they are to be our guests for an unknown period of time at the maximum-security facility at the U.S. Navy Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Cuban government is, of course, showing characteristic support for this part of the war on terrorism as we transfer these prisoners to the base that was ceded to the United States at the conclusion of the Spanish-American War.
Cuban Atty. Gen. Juan Escalona expressed his best wishes for the detainment operation by saying that he hoped that "15 or 20 get out" and proceed to kill their American captors. The prospect of a dozen or so of these escaped terrorists being able to accomplish at Guantanamo Bay what they could not pull off when they were well-armed and hunkered down in their bases in Afghanistan seems quite remote, but I suppose Escalona is entitled to his dreams.
Realistically, these prisoners are going to do nothing but sit in their makeshift tent cities until we decide what to do with them. I don't see an easy way out of this predicament for the United States. It will be difficult for us to summarily execute so many unarmed men with the world watching, but it doesn't seem to make sense to just let them rot at Guantanamo until they die a natural death either. And I certainly don't think we can ever let them go.
So, what to do? It seems to me that we should allow these men to live out the remainder of their lives in some useful fashion. Perhaps by doing some good deeds (even if they are forced to do them) these men will enjoy a certain amount of redemption in this life as they await judgment in the next.
Here are a few activities that I suggest we use to keep our guests at Guantanamo busy for a while:
There is still a great deal of work to do in New York City to clean up the mess that used to be the World Trade Center, and I'll bet a few hundred pairs of terrorist hands would help to speed up the job. Let them help sweep up the remains of the carnage they helped to create.
It seems that the confidence level in the safety and effectiveness of the anthrax vaccine that is currently available is not where we'd like it to be. I think some large-scale human testing of the current vaccine and any new ones under development would be helpful, and I know a little base in Cuba where a number of good human test subjects can be found.
Lock them in a room with Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell and let the theology debate begin!
I am sure CBS executives are already scouting locations for the next installment of "Survivor." Here's my suggestion "Survivor Guantanamo." After a terrorist gets voted off the island and has his torch extinguished, he would be taken to the beach and told to swim home.
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