i'm guessing most of yall have read 'alice in wonderland' or seen the disney translation and will remember the croquet game in which the rules were constantly being redefined according to royal whim?

the progression that led to our current quandry in guantanamo proves that life imitates art.

first of all, let's consider how it is we have a base in guantanamo...and how it became a prison. 

after 'liberating' cuba from its spanish colonial masters, the us forced (as in there was no choice involved) cuba to incorporate the platt agreement into its new constitution.  one provision of platt required cuba to extend to the us an open-ended lease of 75 acres, to be used solely as a naval coaling station.  no other use was provided for nor permitted. 

the us remained involved in cuba's affairs until castro overthrew batista in 1959.   despite--or more accurately, to spite castro-- cuba's demand we leave, the us navy maintained the base at guantanamo. 

in 1991, following the overthrow of haiti's elected government in a military coup engineered by three generals-all of whom were graduates of fort benning's school of the americas--a tent city (surrounded by razor wire) was created at guantanamo to house haitian refugees.  beginning in 1992, the refugees were forced to repatriate.  those who resisted were deemed by ghwbush to have no legal standing in us courts because they were on 'cuban soil'.  

despite a federal court order to close the 'shelter', it was actually expanded and used to detain cuban refugees who failed in their attempt to escape castro and more haitians following the the 1994 revolt in their home country.

those detainees rioted on a number of occasions and had to be pacified by us troops with fixed bayonets.  conditions were deplorable and some cuban refugees committed suicide intentionally while others died trying to escape back to the dictatorship from which they'd fled hoping for freedom in the usa.

in response to a filing by the present president's father's administration, the eleventh circuit court of appeals issued a ruling on january 18, 1995 stating detainees at guantanamo had none of the constitutional rights which  "bind the government only when the refugees are at or within the borders of the United States."

move the croquet goal over a bit..and give the queen another turn.

i don't know if the adminstration had a plan for those they transported to guantanamo in 2002, but like so much of its 'war on terror' i'm guessing it didn't.  obviously it wasn't to hold all those who represented a danger or they wouldn't have released those who re-joined the taliban.  if the plan was to obtain information, they may or may not have succeeded. 

one of the several british citizens who've been released signed a confession in which he admitted he was a fighter seen on videotape with bin laden; british intelligence has determined that was impossible since the guy was in the uk at the time the tape was made.

furthermore, there is evidence that some of those detained at guantanamo were falsely turned in as members of al quaeda to obtain cash rewards (possibly by real al quaeda members). 

if i understand the theory of 'illegal combatants'  correctly, there should be no afghans in guantanamo.  one would think that non-afghans caught fighting in that country would be liable to afghani law (as would natives who chose to fight on the losing side).   but then 'illegal comabatants' is a construct of the administration that brought you 'clear skies' and 'no child left behind'. 

in any event, now that we're holding them, a plan is needed.  like some way of positively establishing identity. those who are determined to be members of al-quaeda and were involved on attacks on the us can then be prosecuted.  if any should turn out to have had no part in attacks on the us, they probably need to be released. 

unless, of course, we want to continue to play by queen of heart rules.