Sanctuary

If you haven't already, you should read Bill Whittle's new essay when you have a block of time. Excellent, as usual. He explains the consequences of violating the rules of war so simply that even a Hollywood actress should be able to understand. Here's a taste:

By wearing uniforms, soldiers differentiate themselves to the enemy. They assume additional risk in order to protect the civilian population. In other words, by identifying themselves as targets with their uniforms, the fighters provide a Sanctuary to the unarmed civilian population.

And this Sanctuary is as old as human history. The first civilized people on Earth, these very same Iraqis, who had cities and agriculture and arts and letters when my ancestors were living in caves, wore uniforms as soldiers of Babylon. This is an ancient covenant, and willfully breaking it is unspeakably dishonorable.

His essay reminded me of thoses pictures (scroll a little) of prisoners being deported to Guantanamo. The prisoners were hooded, restrained six ways to Sunday and tied to the infrastructure of the plane. I admit to wondering whether that wasn't a bit much... until I saw an interview with Louis Pepe.

Pepe had the misfortune to be a prison guard for Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, in prison on conspiracy charges regarding the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. Salim and his cellmate (also an Arab Muslim terrorist suspect) saved all the little packets of hot sauce from their meals for who knows how long until they could fill one a honey bear container. Then they waited. Prison officials suspect that they waited specifically for Pepe because he had been friendly to them and they figured he'd be a pushover.

When he entered their cell alone (he says they were cuffed but slipped out of them) they sprayed him with the hot sauce, tied him up and demanded his keys. When he wouldn't surrender them, Salim stabbed him though the eye with a comb that had been sharpened to a point. Pepe was left severely brain-damaged and severely disfigured.

I recount that story to point out that there are, amongst those detainees, men who do nothing but think about how they can kill Americans. Because their keepers do not dwell on murder and mayhem all day long, they will always be one step behind the wannabe murderers. That is the reason for the seemingly over the top security. Our soldiers and prison guards shouldn't have to pay with their lives for not being able to imagine every last way one of these psychopaths can use hot sauce and a comb to inflict horrendous damage.

Update: Jonah knows how Pepe relates to Gitmo.