Turning Criminals Into Militants

[prole]

A McClatchy investigation found that instead of confining terrorists, Guantanamo often produced more of them by rounding up common criminals, conscripts, low-level foot soldiers and men with no allegiance to radical Islam - thus inspiring a deep hatred of the United States in them - and then housing them in cells next to radical Islamists.

 

The radicals were quick to exploit the flaws in the U.S. detention system.

 

Soldiers, guards or interrogators at the U.S. bases at Bagram or Kandahar in Afghanistan had abused many of the detainees, and they arrived at Guantanamo enraged at America.

 

The Taliban and al Qaida leaders in the cells around them were ready to preach their firebrand interpretation of Islam and the need to wage jihad, Islamic holy war, against the West. Guantanamo became a school for jihad, complete with a council of elders who issued fatwas, binding religious instructions, to the other detainees.

 

Rear Adm. Mark H. Buzby , until recently the commanding officer at Guantanamo, acknowledged that senior militant leaders gained influence and control in his prison.

 

"We have that full range of (Taliban and al Qaida) leadership here, why would they not continue to be functional as an organization?" he said in a telephone interview. "I must make the assumption that there's a fully functional al Qaida cell here at Guantanamo."

 

Afghan and Pakistani officials also said they were aware that Guantanamo was churning out new militant leaders...

 

..."A lot of our friends are working against the Americans now, because if you torture someone without any reason, what do you expect?" Issa Khan , a Pakistani former detainee, said in an interview in Islamabad . "Many people who were in Guantanamo are now working with the Taliban."--from McClatchy 6/18/08

[RuMR]

we should throw bush in there and suspend that dumbshit's habeus corpus...

[prole]

This trend has played an important role with regard to the historical development of militant Islam. Nothing seems to radicalize people faster than being tortured, just ask John McCain. Some background on the topic can be found in this excellent film series.

[mtn_mouse]

When I was in the army the geneva convention was in effect, disallowing torture. Seemed like a good thing to me.

Why does W think he's above it?

[Phil K]

Ummm... 'cause he's arrogant, stupid, cruel, has no regard for the rule of law and has surrounded himself with like minded criminal types?

 

 

 

[builder206]

Sounds like a good candidate for cc.com.

[KaskadskyjKozak]

Sounds like a good candidate for cc.com.

 

true, that