Ghost, you make a valid point on whether some of the detainees come in non violent and turn that way. I do not know. The number, if any is probably small, as like our own prisons here in the US, we're not out there actually looking for innocent people to incarcerate. (Hence, the release of around 500 detainees).
My take on this is I see terrorists as the cold blooded killers that they are. They remind me of the terminators of the film with the same name. They can't be reasoned with, and the only thing they truly understand is overwhelming force. Separating them from non violents is at best risky.
I would have to go back and look, but I assume it was an official at Gitmo NYT was interviewing. Obviously, The Times thought them a credible source, lest they would not take the time for the interview. Either way, I will take the word of one of our guys before the detainees.
Once again, we will have to differ on Gitmo. I see it as a necessary component to the war on terror to lower risk, and with the release of at least some of the non violent detainees, I think we're being as fair as we can. I do appreciate your thoughts though, and your points are well taken.
Goodnight and Good Sales
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Origen: There's this tendency for some people to create this false dichotomy between "Goodnight Moon" and "Goodnight Bush." But from our experience, the people who are the biggest fans of "Goodnight Bush" are actually the fans of "Goodnight Moon." Because the more you understand and know that book, the more you get what's going on in "Goodnight Bush."
Did you have doubts about the book's success or did you know it was going to be a hit?
Golan: We weren't sure if people were going to get what we were doing. It was really kind of a Hail Mary, and when we started to get enthusiastic responses from publishers, we were thrilled.
Origen: I should say that it's not a 100 percent good feeling for us because we wish that this book wasn't necessary and that none of this ever happened. Even in the success of the book, there's a little bit of sadness, as well.
The sadness being …?
Golan: What has happened to the country. On one hand we have this comically absurd president, but at the same time we've had massive devastation and tragedy that hasn't just injured the country, but injured all of us as individuals.
Why do you think your book has become so popular? Why has it been resonating with so many people?
Origen: A lot of people felt that we entered a kind of alternate reality in 2000, this kind of nightmare. And in order to be in denial about the nightmare we're in, they just sort of tune out. This book allows people to face the nightmare and get some closure on it as it's coming to an end.
Golan: We understood that if we just talked about all of these depressing topics in a very straightforward way, no one would want to read it. So that's why the combination of humor and all that difficult sad stuff has only made the book more readable and something people can use to reflect upon what's happened for the last eight years.
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