HOME | BIO | MUSIC | JOURNEYS BY DJ | STUDIO BLOG | POLITICAL BLOG | BOOKING INFO | CONTACT

Late last week we got word from the AP that virtually all of the individuals released from GITMO were innocent. Today we find out that another 33 are being sent home to freedom. WaPo:

Thirty-three detainees who had been held at the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, were returned to their home countries over the past week, part of a government effort to reduce the facility's population to a core group of terrorism suspects who could be held indefinitely.

The Defense Department announced yesterday that it transferred 17 detainees to their home countries over the weekend: seven to Afghanistan, five to Yemen, three to Kazakhstan, one to Libya and one to Bangladesh. Military officials announced Thursday that 16 detainees were sent to Saudi Arabia last week.

With the transfer of the 33 detainees -- nearly 8 percent of the facility's population -- Guantanamo now holds about 395 detainees, almost none of whom have been charged with a crime. State Department officials have been working to reducesignificantly reduce the number of Guantanamo detainees through lengthy negotiations with other countries, although the United States is unwilling to release detainees into the custody of nations where they would likely be abused, tortured or killed.

A large percentage of the remaining population is from Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

According to Pentagon figures, approximately 380 detainees have departed Guantanamo for at least 29 countries since 2002, meaning the facility's current population represents slightly more than half of the suspects captured and transferred to U.S. custody in Cuba. An additional 85 detainees are slated for transfer or release to their home nations pending the outcome of diplomatic discussions. Their departure would leave the number of detainees at Guantanamo at about 310.

Half of the population of the prison has now been returned home. Half. We were told that these men were among " the Most Dangerous, Best-Trained, Vicious Killers on the Face of the Earth." Now we know that at least half of them are innocent. And that the rest are likely to never be charged with any crime. Locked away for life with no explanation, aside from a "trust us, even though we blew it with the fist half, these guys are really evil" promise.

How is the administration responding to this news? By cracking down on those who remain in Gitmo, of course. NYT:

Security procedures have been tightened. Group activities have been scaled back. With the retrofitting of Camp 6 and the near-emptying of another showcase camp for compliant prisoners, military officials said about three-fourths of the detainees would eventually be held in maximum-security cells. That is a stark departure from earlier plans to hold a similar number in medium-security units.

Officials said the shift reflected the military’s analysis — after a series of hunger strikes, a riot last May and three suicides by detainees in June — that earlier efforts to ease restrictions on the detainees had gone too far.

The commander of the Guantánamo task force, Rear Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., said the tougher approach also reflected the changing nature of the prison population, and his conviction that all of those now held here are dangerous men. “They’re all terrorists; they’re all enemy combatants,” Admiral Harris said in an interview.

He added, “I don’t think there is such a thing as a medium-security terrorist.”

Not counting the people who have been or are about to be released, of course. But then again, we now know they aren't even terrorists, so technically I suppose he is right.

Asked about his discussions with prisoners, Colonel Dennis said he basically had none. As for the handful of detainees who have continued to wage hunger strikes, including three who were being force-fed last week, he said they would get no “special attention” from him.

“If they want to do that, hook it up,” he said, apparently referring to the restraint chair system for force-feeding. “If that’s what you want to do, that’s your choice.”

Admiral Harris said he had ordered a hardening of the security posture on the basis of new insights into the threat that the detainees pose. “We have learned how committed they are, just how serious they are, and how dangerous they are,” he said.

Why are we force-feeding prisoners, you ask? Because according to the commanders of the base, when a prisoner attempts to commit suicide, they are committing an act of terrorism.

Is it just me, or are the people running this "war" on terror as stupid as the ones running our "war" on drugs?