10 percent of Guantanamo detainees now being force fed

[kpete]

Source: McClatchy

10 percent of Guantanamo detainees now being force fed

* Posted on Thursday, January 8, 2009
By Carol Rosenberg | Miami Herald

Guantanamo detainees are staging a fresh wave of hunger strikes ahead of the seventh anniversary of the controversial prison camps — a campaign a lawyer links to the speedy release of Osama bin Laden's driver from U.S. military detention.

As of Thursday, 30 of the 250 war-on-terror detainees were classified as hunger strikers, 25 of whom were being fed through tubes in their noses, said Navy Cmdr. Pauline Storum at Guantanamo.

Defense lawyers have long described the tactic as a spontaneous protest against their indefinite detention.

Military officials see it as part of a choreographed power struggle between detainees and their guards.

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/59284.html

[Hydra]

1. After 7 years in that hellhole, I'd be doing that too

Detention and torture without charge...what a great nation we are :sarcasm:

[Soylent Brice]

2. through their noses???

wow.

what's next? we gonna start cutting fingers off and breaking knees?

[kas125]

3. I had to have surgery to remove half of my stomach and part of

my intestines. I was in the hospital for a month. The worst part of the entire ordeal was the stupid tube in my nose; those things HURT!

[Soylent Brice]

6. stomach stapling?

what was it for, if you don't mind?

[kas125]

7. It was because I'd had stomach ulcers for years and

they caused scar tissue that was blocking the exit from my stomach to my intestines. No food at all could get through, so they had to remove half the stomach and part of the intestines. Thankfully they now know what causes ulcers and how to prevent them so maybe other people won't have to go through what I have. As for stomach stapling and such, after stomach surgery for which I had no choice, I'd NEVER recommend surgery like that if it isn't absolutely necessary to save one's life. The after effects are not something I'd choose to live with if I'd had a choice.

[Soylent Brice]

8. that SUCKS.

i have a friend who gave himself really bad ulcers from drinking. he's having a lot of issues now. hopefully they can help him so he won't have to go through that too.

thanks for sharing!!

[kas125]

9. I hope your friend will be okay and that he'll be able to get the

help he needs so he won't have to go through that, too. If he does have to have surgery similar to mine, please remember this post and tell him that I've been through it and that I'll be more than happy to give him advice or support if he needs it.

[bemildred]

4. Yippee, I feel so much safer now. nt

[gratuitous]

5. Land of the free, home of the brave

Yes indeedy, so much safer we are.

I presume insertion of these feeding tubes is a medical procedure; what sort of doctor, what sort of human being is going to do this? Although I'm glad it's not me being called on to do it, I and people I know and care about could very well be the targets of the retaliation for the justifiable anger generated by this.

[defendandprotect]

10. THIS has never gotten the attenion it deserved ....

and somewhat understandably with Bush/Chaney throwing out new cluster bombs

over us all almost every day -- but this has also been a form of torture --

They're shoved bloody tubes down prisoners' throats from one prisoner to the

other. No sanitary setting here!!

Imagine these 8 years of suffering among these prisoners--!!

And the lives and mentality of those whom have beern charged with inflicting

this pain and torture--!!

[Jennicut]

11. Force feeding? What is this, an elderly rest home?

This is nuts. Really, what is this coming to? I cannot wait to see this place closed. I would like to Cheney force fed with a tube in his nose, however.

[Trillo]

12. But didn't the U.S. vote that humans don't have a right to food?

Let me see if I follow this twisted logic:

1) If you follow the law, and or you're not currently accused of breaking it, you have no right to food

2) If you're an accused terrorist, we'll feed you giving you such a "right to food", and if you don't choose to eat, we'll feed you anyway, so this goes further than granting such a right, the accused terrorist has a mandate to food. :wtf:

I'm so sick of the hypocrisy. How about we start giving "a right to food" to the non-accused, as well?