Why the debate over detention matters

Hotair, a favorite conservative video site I frequent, offers this bit of evidence that the debate about detention matters.

Abu Quatada: Radical cleric to be released in 24 hours

'Qatada, who is accused of giving advice and support to terrorists including the leader of the September 11 hijackers, has been described in official documents as a 'truly dangerous individual' who was 'heavily involved, indeed at the centre of terrorist activities associated with al-Qa'eda.'

He has been convicted twice in Jordan in his absence for conspiracy to carry out bomb attacks on two hotels in Amman in 1998, and providing finance and advice for a series of bomb attacks in Jordan planned to coincide with the Millennium.

It was those convictions which allowed him to argue in the Appeal Court he would not get a fair treatment in his home country.

With the prospect of extradition removed, the Ministry of Justice has been forced to release him by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission.

The bail order was signed this afternoon and he is expected to be released from Long Lartin jail in Worcestershire tomorrow.

He is will be electronically tagged and put under a 22-hour curfew at his family home in Acton, West London.

He will not be allowed a mobile phone or access to the internet and the bail conditions include a long list of Islamic radicals with whom he is banned from communicating, including Osama bin Laden."

This detention debate is not over with, yet. Basing important matters of national security on political correctness rather than sober judgment is a mistake. The British authorities are doing their best to account for the situation, here. But their dilemma illustrates why we need to think carefully and thoroughly about how such matters get resolved reasonably.

And, more broadly, still, this illustrates why on-going engaged reasoned and practical policy discussions and debates need our attention rather than the distractions of the politics of personal destruction.

The stakes are too high to engage important questions any other way.

Luckily, we're up to the challenge.