I have made it clear in the past here that I am no fan of Barack Obama. I had hoped for Republican victory and I was sad when it did not come about.
Nevertheless, I think that when our opponents take up positions we agree with, we ought to say so.
Barack Obama has pledged to end the practice of extra-territorial imprisonment of supposed terrorists in Guantanamo Bay.
As I have said elsewhere, in the British context, detention with out charge, as at Guantanamo, is a standing affront to the very values we ostensibly seek to uphold. It undermines our position on everything we stand for in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was a blight on the Bush Presidency. It is wrong.
If one believes in universal rights and wrongs, then the same treatment should be meted out to those who opposes you, even to those that oppose that paradigm of rights and wrongs. Elevating (albeit well-equipped) common thugs like Al Qaeda to extra-judicial status allows them a victory of sorts and is a great example of us damaging that which they could never, on their own, affect - our principles.
I therefore applaud Obama's position on it.
