To be fair the western countries have generally got a far better record of human rights in modern times than most countries.

America does not control the world's supply of oil, OPEC does primarily with control by the Saudi sheiks.  Also, the infusion of Texas Sweet Crude, which is better quality than Arabian, drove oil higher as OPEC's oil was less desirable.  Oil is now currenly at around $34 a barrel while last summer it was over $150 p/bar.  OPEC control is key here, not greedy US corporations or conspiracies by Haliburton and the like. 

@ Samuel: If a company does well, they make their shareholders richer which say 80% of Chevron is the average Joe.  That is not bad.  If you create windfall taxes than the corporations increase prices to keep the ability to run efficiently and not restructure--this leads to less money to the average shareholder and a negative impact on the ppl @ the pump who who ironically see the price of gas rise yet again.  This is all Economics 100 not even 101.  I suggest people would take it to heart.  You may already know these principles but many do not and blame the wrong people.

OT: If Jerry Jihad took a loaded truck w/ explosives to the Iraqi oil fields you can bet your ass oil would not only rise but it would be like $250 a barrel and people would blame the US nevertheless.

International laws only apply to natiosn who agree to them, if EXAMPLELAND and MADEUPVILLE agree to a law banning tortur, then its only an international law between those too, so DOSENEXISTPLACE can torture all it wants and not be accused of breaking said law.

As far as I know their is NO law binding the entire planet.

For countries no.

For individuals there are laws called... non... something or another.

Such cases include,  torture, murdering of juveniles, genocide... etc.

That is far from the truth.

http://www.newshounds.us/2009/02/01/its_a_happy_guantanamo_bay_prison_according_to_fox_news.php

I think it's naive people like yourself that let Hitler re-establish post WWI Germany for another go at it.

Amen!  Some Sufi fanatical jihadist does not give one damn about rights so long as he "kills the infidels Ins'allah and gets to paradise for the 72 virgins."  But oh what the hell give the mass murderers and beheaders a break once in a while.  They sure are fun to go chill and have a beer with!

Edit: And another thing.  My 11th grade history teacher was stationed @ Camp X-ray and if the rat-fink's meals or Qurans weren't just right they would get punished by the COs.  The average detainee there gains around 30 pounds due to the quality of care and food selection all prepared specially by the USN.  It is actually a far cry from the caves and squalor that they are used to in Afghanistan and much better than desert and heat in Iraq.

I have thoroughly enjoyed watching Kasz bitchslap so many people into shape in this thread.

International Law is a joke. It only applies to countries that "agree" to it, yet those countries often break those loose agreements whenever they find it suitable. See 1933 Germany for a perfect example.

So, before quoting any violations of "International Law", you should probably read up on how it all works. Basically, it doesn't. It's little more than a gentleman's agreement between nations to not fuck up each others' citizens if both countries happen to be getting along at that point in time.

The only real "International Law" is more commonly referred to as "war". Deal with it.

So we fed them well. That still doesn't make Gitmo right.

International Law is a joke (which is what this thread is really about), but I won't sit back and condone the abusive double-standard that Bush enacted during his Presidency. To hold yourself as the greatest country on Earth and promote freedom, liberty, and all that other rhetoric yet still operate on the standards of Gitmo is hypocritical at best, absolutely deplorable at worst.

I actively cheered on Obama for shutting down that public relations nightmare just days after taking the Presidency.

You would have them in your state?

Edit:

Yemen arrests al Qaeda member once held at Gitmo

• Story Highlights
• Mohammad al-Awfi arrested in Yemen, deported to Saudi Arabia, reports say
  
• Al-Awfi released from Guantanamo Bay detention facility in 2007
  
• Al-Awfi had fled Saudi custody

(CNN) -- Yemen authorities have arrested and extradited a Saudi man who rejoined al Qaeda after he was released from the U.S. military's detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Yemen's embassy in the United States announced the arrest of Mohammad al-Awfi on Tuesday. Its state-run news agency reported Wednesday that al-Awfi has been extradited to Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia recently asked for Interpol's help in apprehending al-Awfi and 84 other wanted al Qaeda suspects. It was a rare admission by the kingdom that some of its most wanted terrorists are on the loose, and it needs help in finding them.

Al-Awfi goes by several names, including Mazin Salih Musaid Awfi, Abu Hareth Awfi, and Muhammad Ateeq Uwaidh al-Aufi.

Last month, he appeared in a video along with another Guantanamo detainee, Saeed Shihri, who is believed to have been responsible for an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Yemen that killed nearly a dozen people last September.

The attack came barely a year after both men were released from Guantanamo to the custody of Saudi Arabia. Shihri is one of al Qaeda's top leaders in Yemen, and al-Awfi is the group's field commander.

Interpol issued a rare global security alert for the men last week. Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble said it was the first time the international police organization has "been asked to alert the world about so many dangerous fugitives at one time."

President Obama last month ordered the Guantanamo detention facility closed within a year. Where the almost 250 detainees now in Guantanamo will be moved to has not been determined.