During his 2008 campaign, President Obama promised the country “change we can believe in.” Yet, more than a year into his administration, he has delivered “more of the same” on issues pertaining to Guantanamo Bay. The island prison is still open, detainees still await trials, and officials have recommended the worst of George W. Bush’s policies — indefinite detention.
The Bush way of thinking seems to be the guiding force behind many of the administration’s decisions on terrorism and Guantanamo. Following the attempted Christmas Day bombing of a U.S. airliner, Obama administration officials decided to read the suspect his Miranda rights, claiming former President Bush would have done the same thing. I commend using our federal courts to try suspected terrorists, but I’m alarmed at how U.S. officials arrived at that decision.
If Obama’s invocation of Bush stopped there, I might cut him some slack. Unfortunately, the Bush mindset never left 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue along with its former inhabitant. Not long after taking office, Obama promptly revamped the conviction machine known as the military commissions, an alternative legal system that, as a presidential candidate, he had led us to believe he would abandon altogether in favor of federal trials.
The military commissions system is a second-tier justice system that is tolerant of flimsy evidence and uncorroborated hearsay by unnamed sources. Cases tried under the military commissions allow evidence that is unreliable or tainted by abuse. In fact, an internal Department of Defense review found that the case of my client, Kuwaiti detainee Fayiz Al Kandari, is “made up almost entirely of hearsay evidence recorded by unidentified individuals with no first-hand knowledge of the events they describe.”
This is evidence that would be laughed out of federal court in real criminal proceedings. Such multiple layers of hearsay introduced through highly redacted and secret documents, often from anonymous sources, is little more than rumor in the real world. In the commission system, however, a judge can find such statements based on the “totality of circumstance” not only admissible, but can base an entire case solely on their existence.
But it doesn’t stop there, either. As if kangaroo courts and their rules of evidence weren’t enough, the Obama administration is considering indefinite detention for some Guantanamo detainees, extending one of the Bush administration’s worst policies. In fact, a secret group known as the Guantanamo Detainee Review Task Force recently recommended approximately 50 detainees to be held indefinitely without trial, claiming these detainees are considered too dangerous to be released but too difficult to prosecute – even in the conviction-friendly military commission system.
Congress meanwhile has jumped on the bandwagon with legislation that, if passed, would make the recommendation of indefinite detention a reality. In early March, Senators John McCain (R-Arizona) and Joe Lieberman (I-Connecticut) introduced a bill that would allow the U.S. government to arrest so-called “enemy belligerents” and imprison them for years in military custody with no charges. Salon.com’s Glenn Greenwald has called the legislation “probably the single most extremist, tyrannical and dangerous bill introduced in the Senate in the last several decades.”
Now it is tempting to assume the decision to hold detainees indefinitely is based on a review of credible evidence. But if the evidence is so persuasive, why not introduce it in a public trial in a federal court of law and secure a legitimate conviction? And if the evidence is not reviewed by a court of law, who does review the evidence and determine the fates of individual suspects?
In these cases, evidence is classified and the identities of those making the determinations are closely guarded. This process is entirely secret and inherently un-American. A system that authorizes indefinite detention based on secret evidence can only result in distrust and suspicion much like the maligned Soviet system of years past. Remember two additional things: First, no one knows what the newly created laws of material support and conspiracy even mean. Secondly, it should not be unreasonable to believe that other countries will hold Americans under unclear laws, in secret proceedings, or in the alternative, indefinitely under no system at all if a secret group from that country deems it “necessary.”
It pains me to say that nothing has changed since Obama became President. In fact, people are questioning whether we can believe that any change will ever come. On February 5, 2008, Obama said, “change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time.” He is right. We are not waiting for a new administration to bring about a false sense of hope. We are asking this administration to stand strong and bring the change it promised because it is right and not just a little better than before.
Lt. Col. Barry Wingard represents Fayiz al-Kandari, a Kuwaiti who has spent seven and a half years in U.S. custody at Guantanamo Bay without trial.
Many will agree that Pres. Obama has done too little. I just don’t understand the indefinite detention, anti-American idea. Everyone who breathes deserves a civil trial. And it is obvious that millitary tribunals are a way to convict with no real evidence. Hearing Holder’s drill today, did you hear anything encouraging? We can’t lock the 48 up and throw away the key can we?
Pres. Obama has made great progress in restoring our integrity on the international stage; however, all will be tainted by the stench of our actions at Guantanamo. It is incumbent upon him and his staff to follow the rule of law and undo the horrors of the Bush policies. Thank you Lt. Col. Wingard for your work.
Thank you so, much, Lt. Col. Wingard, for speaking up and pointing out what many people refuse to admit.
Lt Wingard thank you so much for believing that we are better than that. So many people seem to become tainted; to see someone in the system who has not, is heartening.
I have disagreed with all of President Obama’s Bush policy holdovers. When he sided with Bush on states secrets I knew we were in trouble. Keep up the fight and we will contact our Reps and the President and continue to demand he stop this madness.
However, if it’s true he has ok’d assassination of a US citizen, I don’t hold out much hope that he will. It seems he has been caught up in the war machine.
Thank you, for helping us fight it.
Sincerely,
mfpdx
Can the Rule of Law be restored after the Bush/Cheney inquisition? Dems have allowed their hands to be tied by not wanting to appear “soft,” but what about the future? We have standing as citizen attorneys general under Clean Air and Water Laws. Toxic ponds are a ticking time bomb. Can we waterboard the Water Board? It was about two days after apologizing for Japanese internment that we opened Guantanamo. It has been eight years too long! Also, Constitution says “All men are created equal and are endowed by the Creator with inalienable rights”–not all Americans! Not all Corporations!
Lt. Col. Wingard, it pains me, too, that President Obama has failed to act upon his campaign promises for change. Can we truly say we live in a democracy when justice is selectively served? Keeping detainees at Guantanamo for over 7 years without trial and now a certain number of “too dangerous” detainees under the threat of indefinite detention is an injustice to the detainees.
Please continue to hold President Obama accountable for the promises he made to close Guantanamo and to give the detainees the right to a fair trial just as any other human being in our country has a right to.
As a former member of the Hawaii Air National Guard, I thank you for serving our country in uniform AND for representing detainee Fayiz al-Kandari. You bring honor and integrity to the military.
Lt. Col. Wingard stands tall against a faceless enemy…Corporate America. It is time for citizens to wake up and realize that elections of Presidents is a diversionary tactic of tyrannical rulers. Eisenhower warned of the danger we faced by not engaging the domination sought in his time from what he called the Military Industrial Complex. As a people, we failed. We are a country ruled by Generals, CEO’s and the Neocon “think” tanks that tweak their self serving ideology. In this ideology, we, the people, are considered less than the slaves who built the pyramids. Forced to live in fear and confusion, we seek anyone who will call himself a “Moses” and huddle behind him and his promise of hope. Once huddled, we await his moves and expect the sea to be parted on our behalf. Should he move too slow, or not at all, we moan our pity, decry the failings of our “leader”, and seek for the next “Moses”. All the while, the real “leaders” laugh as they dance upon us crushing us like so many ants in a pine grove. They laugh because it is they who provide us with this and the next “Moses”. Like their missiles and tanks, they are the manufacturers of our politicians and the politics that cast shadow over us, shielding reality from our eyes and minds. It matters not whether “Moses” is a Democrat or a Republican because all the “Moses’” serve the same masters and all will carry out their bidding regardless of how it need be presented to convince us that whatever they do is in our best interest, is fair, and just. For every bone they toss to us a greater morsel of fear and confusion, too, is cast. As we gradually weaken, as a people, the rhetoric and actions of either the Dems or Reps blur and blend. In time, and very soon, there will no longer be need for the deceptions and our true leaders will show their face. At that time, we will all be detainees held for no cause other than that they have the power to do so unquestionably. At that time, we will all be Fayiz al-Kandari. Enemies of the state simply because we breathe the state’s air. Lt. Col. Wingard has awakened to the reality that there is no “Moses” and will be no “Moses”. If we are to avoid total tyranny in this country, we must all become leaders, all stand tall before this faceless enemy, all realize our power to crush them, and all act to do so. Refusing to vote for millionaire/billionaire candidates, refusing to work for corporate war mongers, refusing to fight their phony wars, refusing to buckle under their messages of fear, refusing to purchase their products, invest in their interests.. instead, organize against them en mass and act every day to thwart them at every move, advertise their atrocities, lies and misdeeds at every opportunity, challenge them in every court, educate at every level, and be relentless in doing so is just a beginning.
DAVE LINDORFF recently wrote The Case for the Impeachment of Barack Obama http://2p4k.sl.pt . He had previously written The Case for Impeachment of George W. Bush. The point is that there is no difference. We have to wake up and realize THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE. The only difference to be made must come from us. FREE Fayiz al-Kandari!! FREE ALL THE Fayiz al-Kandari’s (Us).
I want to add that neither Iraq nor Afghanistan aggressed against the US. The US is the aggressor in these countries. Whether, as a nation, we are willing to admit that the corporate designs and manipulations upon those countries was direct cause for the tragic events of 9/11 and that 9/11 was used to militarily aggress upon those countries, the truth of this stands. Until we become aware and willing to admit that our corporate military structure is at fault, nothing will change. Each and every day, as our military and it’s illegal operatives kill and maim hundreds and thousands of innocent people, ants in the landscape of countries plotted for corporate takeover, think of the detainees and see the world through their eyes. Are they not defenders of their homelands? Whether or not we agree with their lifestyles, have they not the right to defend themselves against greedy corporate criminals? Have we not that right?
Whoever imagined that we’d not only see Obama making Bush-like decisions but being even less concerned about the Rule of Law than The Worst ever was? Thank you, Col. Wingard, for not only fighting for justice for Fayiz but for being brave enough to publicly remind us of the disappointing scene behind the curtain.
Thank you all for your kind words. Just know, we will win in our effort to preserve rule of law. Many popular things in history driven by fear and based on money failed to stand the test of time.
Our job is merely to make it sooner rather than later for those still held as we approach a decade with the world watching and little to show for it.
Having helped run the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, on the medical side of the house, and having spent 9 years with a Military Police Internment/Resettlement Brigade, as well as having spent time at several detention facilities in Iraq before my retirement from the Army, I am aware of a one-in-seven recidivism rate among those released from Gitmo. Also, those captured in wartime who are not in compliance with the Law of War (Geneva Conventions), are not entitled to the same legal protection as say, a U.S. Citizen who is accused of a civil or criminal offense. We knew this in wars past, and in general, those who do not conform to the Law of War are subject to execution. We chose the more civilized route, and one that has served us well so far (no more successful terrorist attacks on U.S. soil since 9/11). I wrote a book on my time at Gitmo called “Saving Grace at Guantanamo Bay” that tells the true story of the mission there along with some other insights that many people should know before they pass judgement.
The one in seven in the “DoD Recidivism Report” is complete bullshit MONTY: it has been retracted several times by both the DoD and DIA but somehow seems to resurface ever other month.
First, in order to be be a recidivist you must have been convicted of something. Seriously MONTY?
Second, claiming thirteen actual guys by name in the “recidivism report” that cannot be name or define what rejoining the “war” actually means proves nothing outside your brain MONTY.
Finally, as an example of the very general “recidivism study” from you guessed it, the DoD, claims that the Tipton Three (detained, beaten and like 85% released without charge) as the thirteen have rejoined the battle eventhough it was shown by British MI 5 that they were withdrawing money from an ATM in England when “Dubya” claimed they were in a training camp in Afghanistan. Rejoin the battle; turns out they were interviewed by the BBC and said they were tortured. Yea man, you are solid on the recidivism MONTY.
Geneva only applies to indefinite detention not torture, beating, interrogation, segregation, classification, or anything related to what the the US declares to be lawful. That makes sense to you MONTY? Enjoy your government provided medications in retirement and see ya at the next “we hate the America government and world protest.”
Someday you can bounce your grandchildren on your knee and tell them how fewer than 5% of grandpa’s prisoners were ever charged, but he conspired in smash’in helpless handcuffed men (remember that part of the Geneva Convention didn’t apply). He haw, he haw.
Marcy, you seem to have a lot of time on your hands. Perhaps you would be interested in the fact that no detainees were tortured in Gitmo or Abu Ghraib? Perhaps you would have time to actually read the Law of War? You are keen on the definition of recidivist, but not so on the definition of “torture.” In my book I explain this definition and how it applies to what goes on in our military prisons for detainees. They are in fact treated much better than many of our own criminals in this country. Many stories have been published regarding how “mistreated” the detainees are, some made up, some exaggerated, some taken out of context, but when have you heard about how detainees treat American guards and others charged with their care? It’s not a one-way street, and we are under the constant scrutiny of the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) which is a good thing. We work together with them to ensure compliance with the Law of War. Of course, the system and the people involved are not perfect, and mistakes have been made, but we are committed to learning from those mistakes and running the abosolute best detantion facilities in the world. However, these detainees in no way, shape or form should be given the same rights as citizens of the United States. Habeas corpus is not a right so much as it is an earned priivlege of civilized people who are good citizens of civilized democracies. Your humanist, pagan, and utilitarian philosophy is what weakens us in the face of an enemy who would just as soon kill you as look at you, regardless of your idealism. Wake up and smell the blood and sand, Marcy.
Montgomery might bone up on his Laws of War with a clearer mind as to their intent. It is not his perception of “civilized” that determines application of these Laws. They are to be applied fully, and with disregard for his perception. Further, his cry that we have no conception of how detainees treat their guards is an empty cry for under the Laws detainees may be specifically charged for any offenses (legal) that they may present while detained. The fact that many detainees have virtually no charges against them after years of detention should rightly be of concern to him. That, in itself, represents an unconscionable cruelty. It, also, matters not what Montgomery’s definition of “torture” might be. Article 3 clearly intentions that “torture” is not the only prohibited action under the Law and it has been clearly, and repetitively, demonstrated that Article 3 has been violated in Gitmo and at Abu Ghraib. Certainly ICRC has improved conditions in GITMO… however, it cannot be shunted aside that they worked exceptionally long and hard to do so. Again, it cannot be overlooked that had so many nations never meddled in the lives of these countries, their citizens never would have found cause to “just as soon kill” us “as look at” us.
Maybe so, but Obama has done more in one year than that idiot Bush could do in eight!
Lou
http://www.vpn-privacy.us.tc
The following is one of the most short sighted comments I’ve read in a while:
“Habeas corpus is not a right so much as it is an earned priivlege of civilized people who are good citizens of civilized democracies.”
No, it is not a privilege. This is a fundamental of good law. It is not given to good citizens in our country. We give this to our worst citizens too. I’m a descendant of the very people who made King John I sign the Magna Carta, thus attempting an ending to complete unaccountable authority.
Your mockery of Marcy is one thing. It shows much more about your apology than you might consider. But you don’t get away with distorting fundamentals of our legal system by playing to the “Good citizen” made up hogwash.
Your argument against Marcy regarding no torture at Abu Ghraib pits you against the completely obvious evidence that we tortured people at Abu Ghraib. In other words, if in all the photos, trials, government admissions, you don’t call that torture, then you are not qualified to call anything torture. Your moral clarity is evaporated by your “blood in the sand” nonsense.
Perhaps to answer my retort to you, you could simply manufacture a couple good Ad hominems about me, pitch a nice red herring on the path, or just make things up whole cloth. It won’t amaze me. Good luck.
Rights mean nothing without responsibilities. In WWII the Supreme Court confirmed that German spies sent here to destroy property were not entitled to habeas in time of war, and most were executed after a proper tribunal. We are at war. The detainees being held at Gitmo did not play by the Law of War and therefore are subject to our military justice system. Read the current definition of torture, I also print it in my book. Detainees were certainly mistreated at Abu, and some were abused, but there was no torture, by definition. Having had many conversations with ICRC physicians, both at Gitmo and at Abu, they would have certainly pointed out things that they felt were torture or abuse. The closest we got while I was at Gitmo was taking the candy from MREs of detainees who were uncooperative. At Abu, several months after the abuse when I was sent to help clean things up, they repeated what I was told also at Gitmo, “Nobody does it better,” meaning detention operations. That doesn’t mean there is not room for improvement, but we certainly take pride in what we do. The liberal media and academia have turned on their own troops it seems, and will not listen to a different point of view. Their loss. That’s why our all volunteer military continues to fight, for your freedom to ignore them.
Mr. Granger.. The detainees, not charged with any offense, can hardly be said to have not played the game according to the Law of War. Statements (with a degree of credibility) surface acknowledging that many detainees were framed for $$. Statements also surface that Bush and Co. were well aware of this fact. Your contentions are without merit as you generalize them. Further, your claims to certainty of comment from ICRC are also without merit as it is known, and adhered to, that ICRC does not report such information to anyone but the parties to which they are charged to report. Their reportage is dictated by a strict standard of confidentiality. If, and only if, those parties consistently fail to administer correction to cited faults, does ICRC relinquish such confidentiality. Your position was not one to which ICRC representatives had authority to report. Beyond this, it is quite telling that you have not responded to any points from my prior posts but continue to posture your vacant political constructs. Contrary to your assertion, we are not at war, sir. We are undertaking a military action sanctioned by Congress. Congress has not made any formal declaration of war. There is a difference. Your credibility in this exchange has diminished beyond a point where rehabilitation seems possible. Touting your book, obviously, fails to lend credence to either your position or knowledge. I would only suggest that you undergo the same conditions, both prior to and post ICRC interventions, the detainees have been subjected to and then write a treatise on your sense of what is and is not torture.
Please view.. http://2u66.sl.pt
The abuse has come to light. Slicing a man’s penis, putting out fingernails and toenails, allowing a man to freeze to death, blinding someone, hanging others, electric shocks, beatings with chains, stress positions, driving some insane….oh, that’s not torture? So why are they so hell bent on destroying the tapes? All these things happened, Monty. If you can justify your defense of such horrible things, may God help you. Too many visible wounds tell the real story even though you deny it. Beating handcuffed men doesn’t make an American hero. Writing one book won’t change the obvious.
Courts are saying 85% (roughly) do not belong in court because there is not, was not evidence…..this means innocent…. Courts are seeing the majority were not on battle fields….were tortured into confessions, yes, the word tortured has been used by those on the bench. How were they entitled to be treated? They were not in the US with the intention to destroy property (as your example of those from Japan) I guess when one’s bucket is full of holes you fling BS. Red Cross..you mention Red Cross? Ocassionally consider who you might be speaking to, Monty. Picking up anyone, anywhere because of their religion and doing all the things we have done to them, isn’t what American’s do, regardless of what FOX preaches. Remember: It’s better to free 2 guilty then to convict one innocent. The brutality of your thinking deserves a little soul searching.
American President Abraham Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus during the Civil War even before war was declaired. The Supreme Court ruled in his favor when his authority was challenged because of his job as Commander in Chief, and the implied duty thereof to protect and defend the Constitution. The Court also ruled that a state of war can exist without a formal declaration. Indeed, we have been in a state of war, whether we have reaalized it or not, since November 21, 1979, when the first casualty in the Global War on Terror began with the death of Marine CPL Steven Crowley, guard at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, when bus loads of male Muslim extremists were allowed to storm the American embassy there. CPL Crowley, a tall, 19 year old young man from Port Jefferson Station, NY, was shot in the head while manning his post on the embassy roof. He was taken to the second floor safe room, only to die there when medical oxygen ran out while the extremists, later to be funded by Osamma bin Ladin, made a bon fire on the first floor, under the safe room, in an attempt to cook the 100 or so embassy personnel alive. Marcy mentions that it is betteer to release two guilty than one innocent, but that would be to say it is better to let the body die from infection rather than amputate a gangrenous arm, because you might also have to cut off some healthy tissue. The Constitution cannot be held in higher esteem than the country for which it was written. Lincoln understood this, and Bush understood this, and now Obama is getting it, too, possibly because he is a studdied scholar of Lincoln. Professor Paul, you have no idea what you are talking about with regard to the ICRC. I have had personal dealings with them both at Gitmo and at Abu Ghraib prison (after the scandal there). These are human beings who also have conversations, off the record, with those who are entrusted with the care of detained persons. Don’t be so naive to think that they only speak to one or two people in the most formal of circumstances, for it is simply not true. Both of you speak as though you witnessed this alleged “torture” first hand. You did not. Although not reported, and I do discuss it in my book, at all incarceration facilities, the actual abuse by detainees towards the guards is much more prevalent than the other way around. Threats of having families of guards killed, spitting, throwing urine and feces on guards, striking, kicking, biting, etc. These are every day occurances. If guards retaliate they are disciplined and removed. It takes a special person to be able to take such abuse and not give it right back, but these are the vast majority of guards helping to keep us safe every day and night, while you sleep dreaming of murderers being tortured. For a definition of “torture,” you can read my book. If you find it distastful to purchse, have your local library get it for you. There is a difference between abuse and torture. Neither is acceptable in professionally run incarceration facilities, and neither tend to get reliable information, that is why Gitmo needs to remain open, because the best persuasion is simply telling the detainees they will remain there their entire lives until they capitulate. They didn’t play by the rules, and when you don’t play by the rules and you get caught, you lose. http://www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/SavingGraceAtGuantanamoBay.html
Apples and oranges, Monty. No one thinks that those who try and kill should walk free. But few…like you, think everyone that is a Muslim should be stripped of all rights. Your idea of a blank “Get-em” , remains a teabagger, less then intelligent, idea. Military Commissions are a “get-em” idea so that evidence can be far less truthful or necessary then the proven US system… civil court. I would think that any conservative would fight for the courts that afford justice..yes to the detaineed and you and me. I suspect that if detainees don’t like us they may have good reasons. How any have gone free? If I put words in your mouth…consider it saving you the trouble.
Monty.. Speaking “off the record” to you has absolutely no bearing on the realities reported to the real authorities. It was directly due to the official reports that changes occurred at Gitmo. Those changes occurred precisely because, as officially reported, abuses existed. You continue to ignore the very clear reality that a number of detainees were kidnapped as a direct result of monies offered to turn people in and that many, if not all, were innocents. You further ignore the fact that any criminal actions taken by detainees are punishable by law and , yet, no charges exist on the detainees in question. Further, Congress approved a military action against an identified terrorist threat (BTW..one for which it, the US, was instrumental in training).. not the nation of Afghanistan. The US has consistently over-stepped the authority granted by Congress. As previously stated, your book is hardly an authoritarian account. It is merely a writing representative of your personal hard line perspective. Attempting to equate a harsher treatment of guards by detainees than the reverse is laughable in light of the reports which mandated changes in these facilities and the most obvious fact that the detainees are caged (Many without legitimate evidence of having committed criminal acts and held, as such, for large segments of their natural existence) and the guards are not.. By your own account, you were no more than a “clean-up” person after the facts. You ignore the reports of detainees having been told their families would be raped and killed, that they, themselves would be harmed in any number of ways (and that many were in fact harmed) and that a legitimate fear existed for such abuses based on official reports and exposures of such crimes having been committed by guards and the abuses and torture committed by initial interrogators prior to detainment. These are not merely rumoured events, Monty. They are part of the official ICRC reports, the reports of other human rights organizations, reports from military personnel with conscience, and documented in Congressional records. Ignore these if you so choose, however, they speak far more truthfully than either you or the book you are promoting here. I feel it necessary to point out, also, that you were not present at “all” detention facilities, as you have claimed. There are quite a few facilities beyond Gitmo and Ghraib. Your position, from what you have written, is that if these individuals are detained, they must be murderers. There is no other possibility in your mind. This, as much as other illegitimate perspectives you convey, sets you apart from the real world. I hardly think that your book is the final word on defining torture. As I stated in an earlier post, once you have actually experienced what many detainees have experienced upon arrest or kidnapping and prior and post interrogation(s) and you have sat in a cell for years on end without being charged with any legitimate criminal wrong doing, then, and only then, will you have any credibility in defining what is or is not torture.
This is not the time of Lincoln, Monty, and your little bit of sound bite history has no bearing on the world of 2010. The history of our time is of a US instituting and supporting illegitimate governments, exercising colonial intrusions at the behest of corporations, infiltrating and agitating insurgents against governments and organizations not in line with the corporate domination intended, training and arming factions within a nation to violate the existing rule or thwart attempts by other colonizers and illegally raping the natural resources of other nations. That is not a defense of our country, Monty. That is aggression at the behest of greedy corporations who, it is now coming more clearly to light, give not one shit for this country.
Neely was a guard at Guantanamo for the first six months the camp was open, and described feeling guilty for the brutal treatment captives received at that time.[1]
In an interview with Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas Neely said that he and another guard experienced the first resistant prisoner for whom a “code red” was called, calling in the camp’s first use of its immediate reaction force.[1] He described how he and the other guard were trying to get a captive to kneel, so they could remove the captive’s shackles. He could feel the captive trembling, and his body tense up. He and the other guard threw the elderly man to his cell’s concrete floor, and called for the immediate reaction force. Neely described learning later that the reason the captive was shaking, and his body was so tense, was that he believed he was being made to kneel in preparation for his summary execution — a bullet to the back of the head.
Neely described watching a medic calling upon the immediate reaction force to hold an underweight captive immobile so he could force him to drink a can of ensure.[1] When the captive wouldn’t open his mouth, Neely said the medic asked Neely to move, and then punched the captive twice in the face. Neely said he only realized afterwards that the medic had him move to a point where Neely’s body blocked the medics punches from the guards in the guard tower. He said later learned that the captive resisted drinking the diet supplement because he feared it was poisonous.
Neely said that he saw camp medical staff perform a rectal examination, searching for contraband, without first lubricating their fingers, and that this made the captive’s scream in pain.[1]
Neely said that it had been a friend of his who was the first guard the captives saw drop a Koran on the ground.[1] He said that this incident upset the captives so much it triggered a camp-wide hunger strike. While the Colonel in command of their unit said the guard who dropped the koran would be punished, his friend was never punished.
Neely said that female guards used to regularly take their turns escorting captives to the open-air showers, and that the captives felt humiliated to be exposed, naked, in front of the female guard.[1]
Neely said that camp authorities told the guards they could not leave Guantanamo, for their next assignment, unless they signed a confidentiality agreement, promising not to give interviews about Guantanamo, or to write about their experiences there themselves.[1]
On December 4, 2008, Specialist Brandon Neely approached CSHRA with testimony he wished to contribute to the Guantánamo Testimonials Project. He believed that insufficient attention had been paid to “the hell that went on at Camp X-Ray.” He would be in a position to know, as he arrived in Guantánamo while the cages of Camp X-Ray were still being welded, and escorted the second detainee to hit the prison grounds. In this interview, Specialist Neely provides testimony of the arrival of the detainees in full sensory-deprivation garb, sexual abuse by medical personnel, torture by other medical personnel, brutal beatings out of frustration, fear, and retribution, the first hunger strike and its causes, torturous shackling, positional torture, interference with religious practices and beliefs, verbal abuse, restriction of recreation, the behavior of mentally ill detainees, possible isolation regime of the first six children in GTMO, utter lack of preparation for guarding individuals detained during the War on Terror, and his conversations with prisoners David Hicks and Rhuhel Ahmed.
I have seen and done many horrible things,
either at Guantánamo or in Iraq, and I know
what it is like to try and move on with your
life. It’s hard.
–Spc. Brandon Neely
All I can say to this question is I am sure a lot really has changed in the way the day-to-day activities take place. Especially with regards to IRFing. But at Camp X-Ray, especially before ICRC (or International Committee of the Red Cross) arrived, I heard many times the IRF team being told (and telling each other before they went to get a detainee) that it was their time to “get some,” which is to say inflict pain, get revenge. But we were instructed that the Number 1 Man on the IRF team was to hit the detainees as hard as possible…. Neely
One day, while on duty at Camp X-Ray, I was assigned to escorting duties. I was at the very back of the camp. There was like a big shed there. This was also where the IRF team was stationed at until called upon. On this day the call came for the IRF team to come to Bravo Block. They made their way to the block and, at the time, I was not doing anything, so I made my way down to the block to watch from the outside of the block. The situation on the block was that a detainee had called a female MP “bitch” a couple times. For punishment, the IRF team was called upon to enter the cage and hog-tie the detainee. The female MP was very upset, yelling “Whip his ass!”
The IRF team, along with the camp OIC, approached the detainee’s cage and told him to stop yelling and lay down so he could be restrained. The detainee just stood there, staring at them. The IRF team lined up in position to enter the cage. The OIC unlocked the lock on the cage door and, when this was done, the detainee turned around, went to his knees and placed his hands on the top of his head. The lock was taken off and the cage door was opened. The Number One Man on the IRF team tossed his shield to the side and, with a quick run towards the detainee, hopped in the air and came down on the back of the detainee with his knee (the Number One guy on the IRF team was no small guy). This caused the detainee to fall to the cement floor of the cage with the Number One Man on top of him. Then the whole IRF team was on top of him hitting, punching, and kicking him. It seemed like a long time, but in reality it lasted 15-20 seconds.
While the IRF team was still on top of the detainee someone yelled for the female MP that was called a bitch. She entered the cage and she punched the detainee a couple times in the head and then left the cage. Everyone in the cage stood up and the detainee laid there cuffed-up but motionless and unresponsive. Next thing I saw were medics coming from the medical house with a stretcher. They left the block with the detainee on the stretcher; they took him to a waiting military ambulance and was transported to the main hospital. The IRF team would ride along with the detainee. I went back to work not fully knowing what was wrong or what happened to the detainee.
Later that night, after we had been off for a while, the IRF team came back from the hospital. They would go on and talk about how they hit and punched the detainee and how they held him down so the female MP could hit him a couple times. They went on to talk about the ambulance ride saying no one spoke and it was a very silent ride. One of them even stated the detainee went into cardiac arrest in the ambulance. I do not know if this statement is true or not. I know the camp OIC of this incident would joke many times about how he never heard his name and “war crimes” in the same sentence so many times in his life.
Eventually the detainee would return back to the camp from the hospital. About a week or so later I was assigned to work Bravo Block, and the block NCOIC happened to be a member of the IRF team. He was the Number One Man of the day of this incident. When the NCOIC walked onto the block a detainee named Feroz Abbasi yelled “Sergeant, have you come back to finish him off?” 1
Everything in the Camp changed once the ICRC showed up. At first detainees were not allowed to talk or get up and walk around inside their cages. They were not even allowed to cover themselves up when they used the bathroom in their buckets. They were told to sit in the middle of the cage unless told otherwise or face punishment. They did not even know where they were at. They would ask and we would just lie to them and tell them they were in Russia or some other place. Many times they would ask about what happened to their country, and many of the soldiers including myself at times would tell them their country was destroyed by a nuclear bomb. Once the ICRC came they were told where they were at, allowed to talk, allowed to get up and walk around. The chain of command was really careful when the ICRC was around.
Upon arrival, detainees were screamed at throughout the whole process. They were told to shut up, walk faster, and what not. Some guards would call them “Sand Niggers.” I never heard that phrase until I was at Guantanamo. Detainees would be told that their country had been nuked and nothing was left, and that their families were dead. I know of some guards even telling detainees they could be executed at any time. This all was being said on the blocks by fellow MPs.
Even to me he never denied being in Afghanistan, but he would make it a point to emphasize that he was not fighting the Americans, and said on many occasions he would not fight the Americans. He said he was there fighting in the country before the United States started to attack. He then went on to say he was attempting to leave the Afghanistan when, one night, he was on board a taxi and the taxi was stopped by the Northern Alliance. He was captured from there. He then stated that the Northern Alliance didn’t treat him too badly and that, the next thing he knew, he was told he was being sold to the Americans for $1500 (there were many detainees during my time at Guantanamo who stated that they had been sold as well to the Americans; they said that the more valuable the Americans thought you were, the more they payed for them).
I talked probably the most to Rhuhel Ahmed, one of the Tipton Three, as he was on Alpha block, a block I worked quite often. He said that he, Asif Iqbal, and Shafiq Rasul had gone to Pakistan for a wedding, and then went on over to Afghanistan to help with humanitarian aid for villages. Then all three were captured by the Northern Alliance. He told me during their time with the Northern Alliance that they were placed into a big container with so many people that they could not move and it was very hard to breath. While in one of this containers he told me they started to shoot into the container, killing most of the people inside. He stated that not very many people survived this. Rhuhel said they were treated very badly by the Northern Alliance, and that they were sold to the Americans for money as well.
http://321z.sl.pt
Wow Dr.Paul, you rock friend.
Blaise Pascal once said,
“We know the truth, not only by the reason, but also by the heart.”. Dr Paul you are my hero.
Previously posted on FDL
While US military history has always been marred by actions outside the rule of law, what I believe Lt. Col. Barry Wingard speaks to is one of the most addressable egregious pretenses of “legal” operation.
Fayiz al-Kandari, along with so many others, is experiencing having his entire life stolen from him based on hearsay, and absent any legitimate offerings remotely hinting of proof as to his having committed any offense.
The detention of Fayiz al-Kandari is egregious on so many fronts, it is impossible to enumerate in a reply such as this. Addressing the disturbed and disturbing politics which characterize the affronts to humanity represented throughout the entire presentation of this construct “war”, from inception to present, would take years and volumes to adequately assemble a coherent history.
Addressing the detention of Fayiz al-Kandari, while seemingly only a speck of the injustice inherent in this construct, is, in fact, a vital exercise in that it exposes all of the vast betrayals of right, honor and justice we, as Americans, hail as our true national character. I applaud Lt. Col. Barry Wingard for his earnest attempts to bring this hypocrisy to light and free a man who, due to no less than the sociopathic underpinnings of a now thoroughly corrupt political and military corporation, is being used as a tool for rendering of the American people into an ineffectual, surrendering mass thus allowing for continuation of profiteering from this and future constructs.
Fear coupled with perversion of ethics, morals and values through psychological regression of thought and suppression of response through economical subservience has created an atmosphere where those who maintain a semblance of sanity are isolated and appearing incapable of responding in any meaningful manner to the dominance of corporate governance.
Standing up with Lt. Col. Barry Wingard and mustering rational dissent against the detention of Fayiz al-Kandari is an effective means for recognizing the capability we do have to resist this pervasive corruption. It is a vital step to reclaiming humanity, ending injustice, and rebuilding the character of our nation. It is a vital step to reclaiming our nation from the corporate disease that has so deeply sickened our society.
It is not too late to break through, break free, and in the process free others. Free Fayiz al-Kandari!!