Curt Goering: Bring America Back from the 'Dark Side'

[marmar]

From minutemanmedia:


Jan. 11 marked the fifth anniversary of the transfer of the first war on terror suspects to the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The world was repeatedly assured by President George W. Bush and others that these were exceedingly dangerous prisoners — “vicious killers … the worst of a very bad lot,” as former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called them. Officials insisted that they were not POWs and therefore not entitled to the protections of the Geneva Conventions; instead, they were declared “unlawful enemy combatants.” They would be vigorously interrogated, charged with war crimes and tried before military commissions. At least that was what we were told.

What a difference five years makes. About 775 detainees from 45 countries have been held at various times in Guantanamo. Today, about 430 detainees languish there. Senior administration officials have even said that some men may be held for the rest of their lives. Vice President Dick Cheney meant business when he warned that the United States would be operating “on the dark side.” Instead of being an icon of American values of justice and accountability, Guantanamo Bay has become its antithesis. It needs to be shut down.

Little-publicized information about how the detainees were rounded up, let alone their abusive treatment, should raise significant questions. An analysis by Seton Hall University School of Law found that of 517 cases, only 5 percent had been captured by U.S. forces. Nearly 90 percent had been captured by Pakistani or Afghan Northern Alliance forces or tribal warlords and turned over to U.S. custody, often sold for rewards as high as $20,000. Leaflets dropped by the U.S. military appealed to what they could do with that money — “wealth and power beyond your dreams …. enough money to take care of your family, your village, your tribe for the rest of your life.” It is not surprising that random and arbitrary arrest and detention would result.

In response to concerns that detainees were held wrongly, the administration set up military tribunals. These tribunals, overseen by panels of three military officers, were allowed to rely on coerced evidence, and detainees had no access to lawyers or secret evidence. Not surprisingly, this appalling process determined that 520 of the 558 detainees who had their status review from August 2004 to March 2005 were “enemy combatants.” .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.minutemanmedia.org/GOERING%20022107.htm