GITMO GETS NO GOOD ANSWERS

I had the chance to listen the other morning to the morning press conference at the post-Bush/EU meeting, and my principal thought was that both of the Europeans spoke better English than Dubya. It was characteristic of the cowboy-speaking Bush that he began his opening remarks by characteristically noting the nicknames he'd given the two EU representatives. What a dweeb! And, I might add, an embarrassment to the United States. The EU reps delivered measured, intelligent and diplomatic assessments of their talks; Bush rambled, used his usual "See..." and "You've got to understand..." stock phrases, and generally sounded like some ill-prepared idiot compared to his two EU counterparts.

Now I'm listening to Norah O'Donnell subbing for Chris Matthews on Hardball adversarially querying a former GITMO prisoner who is suing the U.S. for his inhumane treatment (we let him go because he is a British relief worker) and the producer of "The Road to Guantanomo," a documentary about that facility. Norah, as usual, is an extreme advocate for the U.S. (or should I say Bush?) position, but she faltered at this point: she quoted Bush saying that he would like to close down the prison and got the response from the producer, "Then why doesn't he?"

Now Norah is interviewing Cully Stimson, who is in charge of GITMO detainees, who says the GITMO techniques are in accordance with Army field manuals. "We're proud", he says, of their treatment. He states that the GITMO prisoner who Norah interviewed was actually trained at a Taliban/Al Quaeda camp and was a real threat. "Then why is he loose in England now?" Norah asks.

No good answer.