Greenwald Stirs Up Twitter by Saying Gitmo Detainees Might Deserve ‘Sympathy’
Glenn Greenwald is facing some angry backlash on Twitter Wednesday afternoon after he posted a tweet that wondered why people seemed to have so much “sympathy” for returning Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, but not for the five Taliban detainees who were released from Guantanamo Bay in exchange:
It's fascinating how there's so much sympathy for a US POW, but so little for GITMO detainees kept in a cage for a decade w/no charges.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 4, 2014
Greenwald’s point is that because the U.S. kept the detainees locked up for years without bringing any charges against them, how can we know that they are the evil-minded terrorists that everyone is making them out to be. This notion did not go over particularly well with the Twitter crowd and Greenwald spent some time rebutting the criticism he received:
@YouTooCongress How do you know the people at Guantanamo are "terrorists" if they've not been charged and had no trial?
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 4, 2014
@torrHL @emilybazelon No – I'm against the detention of anyone without charges and a trial
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 4, 2014
@NoCopyPasterito @YouTooCongress Trusting you is not how guilt is determined. And most of them have been cleared for release.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 4, 2014
@RaniaKhalek Right – it's like what happened when the truth about Pat Tillman's views emerged.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 4, 2014
At least one person pointed out that as more information has emerged about Bergdahl’s behavior, there isn’t much “sympathy” for him either:
@mcbyrne Yes, that's the GOP line. But the Dem line is that it's our obligation to free all our service members.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 4, 2014
[Featured image via Sergio Moraes/Reuters]
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