For four years we kept silent while our government, with the tacit consent of the people we helped send to Congress, imprisoned 550 to 750 men and boys in a remote concentration camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
For four years we watched while fellow reporters swallowed everything the government says about these prisoners without checking claims against facts. We can't sit by anymore while men and boys are jailed under conditions you'd call heartless if anyone did it to your dog or cat.
Lists published on the Web tell us that among the prisoners are:
- Asadullah Rahman, captured at age 10.Muhammed Ismael Agha of Afghanistan, captured at 14.
- Mohammed al Gharani of Chad and Naief Fahad al Otaibi, Youssef al Shehri and Abdul Salam al Shehri of Saudi Arabia, all four captured at 15.
- Afghan writer Badr Badrzamen, master of English literature, moved to Cuba from an Afghanistan prison the Taliban threw him in for writing articles lampooning them.
- 332 men and boys identified only by name and country of origin.
- From 210 to 410 people of unpublished origin and unaccused crimes.
Of these 550 or 750 (depending on who's counting), 332 were captured by Pakistan, not the United States, and conveniently dumped on us "for interrogation" before October 2002.
"In custody" (some probably at other places than Guantanamo) are 62 "al-Qaida terrorists" though actual terrorism is only alleged for 11 of them (The government also admits 37 on its terrorist list are "still at large.")
The score: 62 alleged terrorists caught out of 99 identified, and 488 to 688 others imprisoned for over four years without charges of wrongdoing.
What has all this inhumane, probably illegal caging accomplished? Have we heard of any terrorist killed or captured due to a prisoner's information? Have we heard of any specific terrorist attack being thwarted due to a prisoner's information? Have we heard of any financing stopped or training compound destroyed due to a prisoner's information? Wouldn't Rumsfeld or Cheney brag if a Guantanamo prisoner's "interrogation" foiled an attack or captured an outlaw?
Having no other evidence of results, let's see what our government claims Guantanamo prisoners provided, as listed in a report issued by the Department of Defense (www.defenselink.mil/news/March2005/d20050304info.pdf):
1. Provided information about al-Qaida operatives and the identities of seven explosives trainers who remain at large.
2. Identified 11 fellow detainees as bin Laden bodyguards who may have information as to his whereabouts.
3. Identified the locations of terrorist training compounds and safe houses and routes used for smuggling terrorists and equipment.
4. Provided information on al-Qaida training techniques used to build improvised explosive devices (IEDs) threatening our troops as well as training on the use of poisons.
5. Helped decode widespread financial networks used to fund terrorist activities.
6. Explained the al-Qaida recruitment process and how terrorist travel is facilitated.
7. Provided insights into the type of individuals sought out for terrorist recruitment.
Other claims in the report:
8. Detainees at Guantanamo Bay continue to pose a threat to Americans.
9. At least 10 former detainees have rejoined the fight against coalition forces.
10. One released detainee assassinated an Afghan judge.
Let's examine the value of these "results."
1. The seven named explosives trainers are "still at large," probably under different names. Scrap that bit of intelligence.
2. We were told bin Laden's whereabouts, but he's still at large. Scrap that, too.
3. Did locating terrorist training compounds, safe houses and smuggling routes (a claim repeated in result No. 7) capture or kill terrorists? If it did, wouldn't the Defense Department have bragged that it was the result of information gleaned at Guantanamo? And has bombing them slowed terrorism? Do you now feel safer?
4. Anyone can figure out that people (even al-Qaida terrorists) learn by being shown how. (Anyone can also order a government manual on bomb-making at Amazon.com.) Would you list this "accomplishment" as information that would stop terrorism?
5. We know who funds the terrorists among them Saudi Arabian oil princes. If we had arrested anyone, or even cut off funding, due to tips from Guantanamo, wouldn't the Defense Department tell the press? Our exhaustive search turned up no reports.
6 and 7. If the department didn't know how al-Qaida recruits and whom they attract, any of us could have told them: They recruit by making their goals known, and by now we bet everyone thinks of joining who hates the United States for invading their land, trashing their homes and killing their relatives and friends.
8. After four years in a dog pen, maybe with torture thrown in, we'd want to kill our captors, too. Anyone who wasn't our enemy before inhumane treatment is surely our enemy now! Can we ever release them? The alternative is killing them all, just like we put badly abused dogs out of their misery.
It's easy to make a case that they're no longer fit for society especially if, as No. 9 reports, they might pursue revenge if we let them go. (Wouldn't you?) Our government's list is mostly generalities with no proofs, no specifics. But No. 10 can be checked for accuracy. So we searched the Web exhaustively. We couldn't find one Afghan judge who'd been assassinated between Sept. 11, 2001, and the report's publication.
Is this sorry list all that our government can come up with to justify locking up more than 500 men and boys in our Guantanamo gulag? Where's the shame? And isn't anyone outraged besides us?
Judi K-Turkel and Franklynn Peterson are journalists and authors based in Madison, Wisconsin.
© 2005 The Capital Times
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