Soldier lifts lid on Camp Delta

[struggle4progress]

Soldier lifts lid on Camp Delta
For the first time, an army insider blows the whistle on human rights abuses at Guantánamo

Paul Harris in New York
Sunday May 8, 2005
The Observer

<snip> Erik Saar, an Arabic speaker who was a translator in interrogation sessions, has produced a searing first-hand account of working at Guantánamo. It will prove a damaging blow to a White House still struggling to recover from the abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib jail in Iraq.

In an exclusive interview, Saar told The Observer that prisoners were physically assaulted by 'snatch squads' and subjected to sexual interrogation techniques and that the Geneva Conventions were deliberately ignored by the US military. <snip>

Saar said events at Guantánamo were a disaster for US foreign policy. 'We are trying to promote democracy worldwide. I don't see how you can do that and run a place like Guantánamo Bay. This is now a rallying cry to the Muslim world,' he said. <snip>

Saar's book, Inside the Wire, provides the first fully detailed look inside Guantánamo Bay's role as a prison for detainees the White House has insisted are the 'worst of the worst' among Islamic militants. His tale describes his gradual disillusionment, from arriving as a soldier keen to do his duty to eventually leaving believing the regime to be a breach of human rights and a disaster for the war on terror. <snip>

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1479040,00.html

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. Oh, dear god...

Please let this get some traction. Please.

[lovuian]

2. Gutanamo is a travesty!!! I never thought Americans

would be part of this!!! Bush has been terrible terrible terrible!!!

[rodeodance]

3. he has been on msnbc and fox this past week.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

27. on Book TV today

Eric Saar was just on BookTV this morning and it will replay twice today...

On Sunday, May 8 at 9:30 am and at 3:00 pm and at 11:00 pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Inside the Wire: A Military Intelligence Soldier's Eyewitness Account of Life at Guantanamo
Erik Saar

Former Army Sgt. Erik Saar discusses his book "Inside the Wire," which chronicles his eyewitness account of prisoner abuse at Guantanamo Bay's Camp Delta. Mr. Saar talks about his decision to volunteer to go to Guantanamo Bay, the expectations he had upon arriving, and his eventual conclusion that the prison camp violated his understanding of American values. The talk was hosted by Olsson's bookstore in Washington, DC. Includes Q&A.

Bio: Erik Saar worked as a military intelligence linguist (Arabic) at Guantanamo Bay from December 2002 to June 2003. He had previously served as an analyst for both the National Security Agency and the FBI.


CSPAN schedule for Sunday...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3615588
Book TV schedule for this weekend...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3608990

[MnFats]

4. i always hated it when people said they were 'ashamed to be Americans' but

this may change my mind.

goddamnit.

The United States of America.
Home the Brave
Land of the Free.

We were the good guys. Airlifting chocolate bars to the children of Berlin.....

where are they now...

[LiberallyInclined]

16. "Airlifting chocolate bars to the children of Berlin..."

was done to win the hearts and minds of the citizens away from the evil bad communists- it was all political.

[struggle4progress]

34. I'd choose chocolate bars over sadomasochistic porn as my favored form ..

.. of political propaganda any day of the week ...

[madrchsod]

5. we will never see this book in the usa

unless one orders from europe. nothing will come of this in the usa but the rest of the world will read it and realize just how far we have sank as a nation. bush runs around crying democracy while he signs the orders for torture thus giving the military and the cia freedom to torture anyone, any time, and in any part of the world. let freedom ring!

[struggle4progress]

7. Call bookstores and ask for it.

[chlamor]

8. Actually

he was on 'Fresh Air' with Teri Gross Thurs or Fri. for a full interview plugging his book and the same day was on Dem NOW w/Amy Goodman.

But will the Good Germans act on this knowledge?

[0007]

29. Amy Goodman of "Democracy Now" interviewed Erik Saar

on Link TV. Saar said that the White House vetted the book before it was published.

[RamboLiberal]

11. It's out - I read it tonight in Barnes & Noble store in Greensburg, PA

Very good read on day to day life at Gitmo.

And this guy was a Bush voter in 2000, had a Bush/Cheney 2000 sticker on door of his dwelling in Arizona at military base there.

This guy is a very ordinary American who wanted to pay off his college education so he joined the military and struggled to get through Arabic language courses.

The book tells how he became increasingly disillusioned on Gitmo, how many of the captives were most likely innocents swept up by the Northern Alliance. How the MP's could be very brutal and didn't give a shit. How there was a rift between Muslims and non-Muslims in Military Intelligence and that was probably why charges were trumped up against Yee and other American Muslims. Gives insight to American Muslims who were hired as translators. Tells how MI interrogators were incompetent for the most part. The squabbles between FBI and OSG (CIA). Tells how they did dog and pony shows for VIPs, etc.

Unfortunately the author couldn't tell a lot because end up in prison.

[Roland99]

37. Order it from Barnes and Noble right here:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=T284UgHBXl&isbn=1594200661&itm=1

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

6. Christ what a shame for our country....

And it will be completely ignored by the MSM here as well as the sheeple.

[daleo]

9. I didn't see anything I hadn't seen before, but it is further confirmation

It is sad to see the U.S. government acting like this, running a gulag outside of the legal foundations of the state and international convention. The scrupulous 'legality' of it really is reminiscent of Nazi Germany, although even Bush is still a long way from that. But every journey begins with a conviction to go in a certain direction and those important first steps. The rest of the journey often is just momentum.

[MADem]

10. This is the first wave

AS they keep screwing over the Guard and Reserve, you are gonna see more citizen-soldiers exercise their rights as CITIZENS and bitch loud and often. The Guard, unlike their active counterparts, is way past its breaking point. I have to admire them for their discipline and their guts in the face of horrible circumstances, but I think they are past the "enough is fucking ENOUGH" point.

Let the dam break!

[raysr]

12. Saw this dude

on Democracy Now thursday I think. Came off as disingenuous.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/05/04/1342253&mode=thread&tid=25

[anakie]

13. he will be ignored

just like the British, European and Australian citizens who have been released and told their tales of torture. Bush and Gonzales says it doesnt happen so therefore it doesnt.

[struggle4progress]

14. It's our responsibility to make sure he's not ignored. There's no magic,

ya know -- just the fruits of hard work.

[The_Casual_Observer]

15. Folks, we are just a short few steps away from nazi style camps

If the heat comes on due to an energy crisis or terrorism or both.

[drduffy]

21. citizen internment camps

Hasn't the army already built some of these at military bases? For the gays, the DU'ers and the rest of the opposition?

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[pie]

31. Looks like they're getting ready for us

To form, it would not surprise me if they
are peparing to deal with the inevitable in the most brutal
and inhumane manner possible.

[Up2Late]

17. Here's the link to the WHYY/NPR "Fresh Air" Interview (audio)

Guantanamo Tactics, 'Inside the Wire'

(Click link above to goto audio link) Run time is 20:15

by Terry Gross

Fresh Air from WHYY, May 5, 2005 · Former Army sergeant Erik Saar and journalist Viveca Novak, a correspondent for Time magazine have collaborated on the new book, Inside the Wire. Saar spent six months at the terrorist detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, from December 2002 to June 2003. He was a military intelligence linguist, translating Arabic for guards and interrogators. During that time, he saw female guards use sexual interrogation tactics on detainees as well as other disturbing practices.

[Up2Late]

18. Here's another corroborating report to this story

In this article, where it says:

"...Saar also describes the 'snatch teams', known as the Initial Reaction Force (IRF), who remove unco-operative prisoners from their cells. He describes one such snatch where a prisoner's arm was broken. In a training session for an IRF team, one US soldier posing as a prisoner was beaten so badly that he suffered brain damage. It is believed the IRF team had not been told the 'detainee' was a soldier..."

This is an NPR report from last summer, in the report, it says this Vet is probably not going to get any Disability benefits for 18 Months!

GI Says Fellow Soldiers Beat Him in Cuba Prison

Listen to this story...

Morning Edition, June 10, 2004 · A U.S. soldier seeks compensation from the U.S. military for injuries he sustained in beatings allegedly administered by fellow American soldiers at the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The soldier was playing the role of a uncooperative detainee in a training exercise; his accused attackers were not informed the incident was staged. NPR's Jackie Northam reports.

[Disturbed]

19. The Red Cross has reported that ..

there are "secret" U.S. prisons that do not allow the Red Cross access. The Bush Junta also outsources torture. Amerika has crossed over from following the Geneva Convention to totally ingnoring that body of law and any Intl. Law. Will anything be done about it while Congress is controlled by the Rethugs and the majority of Dems look the other way and support The Bush Junta Agenda in Iraq and Afghanistan?

[Up2Late]

30. This is what happens when the Grandson of Hitler's Banker and...

...his neo-Nazis criminal buddies take over the U.S. Government and all of the Media/News sources, and only about 5% of the population know about it. What's amazing is that even long time CIA agents seem shocked at what's going on.

Also, I don't think it fair to blame "...the majority of Dems..." in Congress for this. Most of the time, they are completely ignored by the RePukes, and most of the time, the aren't even allowed into the Bill Drafting Committees and Conferences.

[ausiedownunderground]

20. Could America release our Ozzie please!!

In Oz we are still really "pissed off" that America still has one Ozzie in bloody "Gitmo". This "Gitmo" stuff is going to haunt American's for a very very long time. When David Hicks is released like our last Ozzie in 2004, we will have no more Ozzies in your "Gulag" in Cuba. Then Ozzies will really give it to you Americans. You are the most "hated" nation in the world!!! whether you like it or not! You do nothing, then you get what you do!!

[Up2Late]

25. I hope you know, it not ALL Americans that are responsible ...

...for this crap. Probably worse than knowing this is going on, is knowing that we are powerless to do anything about it.

Not only have they rigged the last 2 Presidential elections, but the Mega Corporations and the RW Criminals running them, now control our Television News and most of the Radio and Newspapers. The news they don't control, they criticize and ridicule with their Propaganda Machine (through the Corp. Controlled Media) as being Elitist or anti-Religious.

I'd personally like to say the, I'm Sorry about David Hicks, but their nothing I can do to help him, my vote (here in the State of Georgia) hasn't been counted since 2000, and maybe not even then, now that we know the Optical Scan Voting machines are easy to rig too.

[struggle4progress]

35. Put public political pressure on Howard to get Hicks released. eom

[bobbieinok]

22. NOTE..Gitmo expose on Cspan 2 , 5-08..E Saar "Inside the Wire"

On Sunday, May 8 at 9:30 am and at 3:00 pm and at 11:00 pm


Inside the Wire: A Military Intelligence Soldier's Eyewitness Account of Life at Guantanamo
Erik Saar
Description: Former Army Sgt. Erik Saar discusses his book "Inside the Wire," which chronicles his eyewitness account of prisoner abuse at Guantanamo Bay's Camp Delta. Mr. Saar talks about his decision to volunteer to go to Guantanamo Bay, the expectations he had upon arriving, and his eventual conclusion that the prison camp violated his understanding of American values. The talk was hosted by Olsson's bookstore in Washington, DC. Includes Q&A.

Author Bio: Erik Saar worked as a military intelligence linguist (Arabic) at Guantanamo Bay from December 2002 to June 2003. He had previously served as an analyst for both the National Security Agency and the FBI.

Publisher: Penguin Press 375 Hudson Street New York, NY 10014

[Robb]

24. Wow, head over to Amazon.com for the reviews...

...a bunch of people who apparently know Saar are slamming him instead of "reviewing" anything.

I think this link will work.


On edit: Actually, looks like several "reviews" by the same person sock-puppet-ing the system. :eyes:

[Frederik]

33. "Real patriots do not make profits"

:rofl:

Thanks, there was many a good laugh there.

"As a career police officer and veteran I have to say the way he appears on TV is in it self, suspicious and if he were a suspect I would be questioning him further. I would also say he has culpability in any abuse that took place by not reporting it."

Not that there was any abuse, of course.

[TacticalPeek]

26. Not Gitmo, but an impressive bit from 'the slacktivist' on persecution:

http://slacktivist.typepad.com/slacktivist/2005/05/persecution.html

:(

[malmapus]

28. Everytime I read about the crap they are doing down there

I keep reflecting back ten years ago when I was at GITMO for a couple months. Its hard to believe that in a decade that little piece of land next to the beautiful clear waters of the Caribbean would become this.

WTF have these neo-cons done to our country

[Frederik]

32. Sounds like

the roles ought to be reversed down there. Most of the detainees are innocent and many of the interrogators are sadists. Disgusting. The torturers and perverts are the ones that should be in orange jump-suits.

"Saar was an enthusiastic supporter of George Bush in the 2000 elections but he has changed his world view after being exposed to Guantánamo Bay. 'I believe in America and American troops,' he said, 'but it has drastically changed my world view and my politics.' "

I can imagine many would have similar steep learning curves if they got to see what's really going on. Unfortunately, US corporate media increasingly resemble Pravda and Tass.

[oasis]

36. Foreign press? Our folks are fighting and dying for a free press at home.

What gives? Where's a domestic report on the story?

[Roland99]

38. A Year After Abu Ghraib...No Accountability

Well, I've been tracking information on various cases of abuse in Abu Ghraib and other locations for a year now. We've since learned that the White House orchestrated a "torture memo" that redefined torture into very narrow terms in an attempt to isolate the administration from wrongdoing in the prisons in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, and elsewhere.

We've seen then-Attorney General John Ashcroft stammer and evade questions from the United States Senate and fail to provide the Senate Investigative Committee with the paperwork and justification requested.

We've seen the results of the administration's plans to torture prisoners in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. The information obtained has been questionable and the outcry from Iraqis and others around the world is evident partly in the fierceness of the resistance in Iraq and in the fear and doubts in the hearts and minds of average Iraqis who now despise the occupying forces and the puppet government that was put into place (and still largely exists.)

We've seen this administration criticize other countries, including Iraq, for committing abuses toward prisoners but yet this administration still denies any involvement in the widespread torture going on under its own direction.

We've also learned more detail of the process known as rendition wherein prisoners are sent to other countries to be tortured and abuse, thereby, presumably, removing them from any culpability.

When this administration came into power it was under the guise of restoring honor and integrity to the White House in the wake of the Clinton adminstration (and the near-impeachment of Clinton). What we've seen, however, is the complete opposite of that promise. This administration has waged a war on the truth and all but destroyed the integrity of the office of the President of the United States of America.

Our media has also been complicit in all of this by failing to be critical of the administration and its policies. Instead, it has cowered in fear of being kicked out of the White House press corps. Well, unless you're a gay prostitute that writes for ethereal news sites. But, we can't fully blame the reporters. They're only doing what they're allowed to do under the conservative ownership of the media companies. And that ownership is becoming less and less in number due to media conglomeration.

What can we expect for the next year? Well, imo, we're seeing signs of spines growing in members of the House and Senate, particularly a few key Democrats but even some moderate Republicans. We're also seeing the effect the internet can have on news via the blogosphere and online fora such as this one.

It's my sincere hope that this administration finally comes clean with the American people and the world and admits it's failures and it's dishonesty. But, I'm also a realist so I won't be holding my breath. I fear impeachment may be nigh, esp. if the Democrats regain control of the House and/or Senate in 2006. Will that fix things in this country? Doubtful. It would likely cause more instability in our already fragile economy but it would bring the criminals to justice.


We can only hope.