Tim Chavez on Gitmo

Today's Tennessean does more to demystify the type of prisoner held at Guantanamo Bay than a week's worth of national coverage. Chavez finds a local angle and informs Tennessean readers about the detainees:

"Be assured the worst of the worst detainees are the ones at Gitmo. It took a lot of effort to get a detainee shipped over … . They are no victims. … Their victims are most often Afghan villagers who have risked their lives simply to vote or are construction and aid workers from around the world who are assisting Afghanistan to modernize and develop. The detainees at Gitmo are the ringleaders and verified trigger-pullers in these incidents.

In the war on terror, information saves more lives than tanks...

Gitmo terrorists want these Guardsmen stopped before more democracy takes root. And their compatriots who are still free would like to kill these Guardsmen without adhering to Geneva Convention rules for combatants to identify themselves and not target civilians. Information from Gitmo terrorists who know these compatriots and their organizations can prevent more deaths.

Americans trust our military to do the right thing — at Gitmo or wherever — in balancing the need for information and also be humane. A recent Gallup poll showed 74% of Americans surveyed expressed trust in the military. That's because the military is us. And more John Krensons returning home alive as deacons in their churches, fathers in their families and heroes in their communities is most important — not the political agendas of U.S. senators and big media.