Is the War Over

Just yesterday some of us asked the question whether the "war" was over and if so, so what.

Abu Zubaydah, the Guantánamo detainee who was tortured close to death by the CIA and who has been held without charge by the US for nearly 20 years, has petitioned a federal court for his release on grounds that America’s wars in Afghanistan and with al-Qaida are over.

In a filing with the US district court in Washington DC, Zubaydah’s lawyers argue that recent White House declarations that the armed conflict in Afghanistan is over – combined with the complete destruction of the original al-Qaida group that carried out 9/11 – have removed any remaining legal justification for keeping him captive. The motion calls for his immediate release, describing Zubaydah’s treatment over the past two decades as a “parade of horribles”.

Ed Pilkington, ‘Enemy combatant’ held at Guantánamo petitions for release because war is over. The Guardian, Dec. 3, 2021.