Jailhouse tour

We visited the detainees camps and we saw the jails,where they shower,how they recreate themselves with movies,classes of art,books. It was very interesting, wrote Miss Universe Dayana Mendoza about the Guantanamo Bay detention facility that has become the USs biggest moral mistake during Bushs war on terror. These enemy combatants,presumed guilty until proved innocent,have been incarcerated and brutally interrogated for years now,despite the Bush adminstrations airy claim that we dont do torture. Mendoza,however,seemed utterly unaware of all this as she bought a necklace,hung out at a bar at the base,and gushed about the military dogs who gave her a very nice demonstration of their skills.

Dissing Miss Universe for her innocence about world affairs is like shooting the proverbial fish in the barrel. Who hasnt felt a twinge of sympathy for these barely adult women cast in this absurd ambassadorial role? International beauty pageants are meant to plug the cosmetic industry,besides being a lot of fun for bored people to eyeball on TV,but everyone involved likes to endow it with deep diplomatic significance. In fact,according to the columnist A.A. Gill,Miss World at all times carries a special box in it is the crown and sash of office,like those of the presidents of Russia and America. It is always there in the background the peace and love version of the nuclear button.

If anything,the Mendoza gaffe only unwittingly magnifies the unreality of the situation. Guantanamo itself is being wound up by the Obama administration,but the Guantanamo principle lives on in camps like Bagram,which,by treating detainees as legally unclassifiable,erases the dues of their citizenship and humanity. Even as ordinary citizens of the world like Dayana Mendoza have a looot of fun,happily unaware of the matter.