IF we are to wage a war on the basis of replacing tyranny with democracy, our actions cannot undermine the principles of justice and fairness.
And the idea of holding people without trial for indefinite periods, without access to lawyers or details of charges, is an affront to those principles.
That is why the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay has to close - because it has become an ugly symbol of hypocrisy in the war against terror.
President Bush has said before that he wants to shut down the camp. But the significance of what he said yesterday, after talks with EU leaders at a one-day summit in Vienna, is that he went into more detail about how that closure can be achieved.
Worldwide unease is growing over Guantanamo Bay, just as it is over extraordinary rendition - the alleged practice of flying suspects around the world so they can be tortured away from the eyes of international law.
It is, of course, a hugely difficult process. We can all imagine the outcry if a released Guantanamo prisoner became involved in a new terrorist atrocity.
But the bottom line is that two wrongs never make a right. Guantanamo Bay has operated beyond accepted western standards of justice for too long and it is just plain wrong for it to continue to do so.
President Bush has moved closer to the day when the prisoners either have to be released or given fair trials.
The world is watching to ensure that the impetus is not lost.
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