http://www.frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=18572
What I Saw at Gitmo
By Lt. Col. Gordon Cucullu
FrontPageMagazine.com | June 27, 2005
Last week, I was privileged to be part of a Department of Defense
trip to the Joint Task Force - Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. I got to see
the operations of this "controversial" facility up-close -
something particularly important after Sen. Richard Durbin's
comparison of its guard to Nazi stormtroopers and calls of
leftists to shut the center down. Our group went to GITMO to
check out tales that the military was being too tough on these
terrorist detainees. We left convinced that America is being
extraordinarily lenient - far too lenient.
After speaking with soldiers, sailors, and civilians who
collectively staff Gitmo, I left convinced that abuse definitely
exists at the detention facilities, and it typically fails to
receive the press attention it deserves: it's the relentless,
merciless attacks on American servicemen and women by these
terrorist thugs. Many of the orange jumpsuit-clad detainees fight
their captors at every opportunity, openly bragging of their
desire to kill Americans. One has promised that, if released, he
would find MPs in their homes through the internet, break into
their houses at night, and "cut the throats of them and their
families like sheep." Others claim authority and vindication to
kill women, children, and other innocents who oppose their
jihadist mission authorized by the Koran (the same one that hangs
in every cell from a specially-designed holder intended to
protect it from a touching the cell floor - all provided at U.S.
taxpayer expense). One detainee was heard to tell another: "One
day I will enjoy sucking American blood, although their blood is
bitter, undrinkable...." These recalcitrant detainees are known
euphemistically as being "non-compliant." They attack guards
whenever the soldiers enter their cells, trying to reach up under
protective facemasks to gouge eyes and tear mouths. They make
weapons and try to stab the guards or grab and break limbs as the
guards pass them food.
We dined with the soldiers, toured several of the individual
holding camps, observed interrogations, and inspected cells. We
were impressed by the universally high quality of the cadre and
the facilities. While it may not be exactly "Club GITMO," as Rush
Limbaugh uses to tweak the hard-Left critics who haven't a clue
about reality here, GITMO is a far cry from the harshness
experienced even by maximum security prisoners in the U.S.
Meals for detainees are ample: we lunched on what several thought
was an accumulated single day's ration for detainees. "No," the
contract food service manager said with a laugh, "what you're
looking at there is today's lunch. A single meal. They get three
a day like that." The vegetables, pita bread, and other well-
prepared food filled two of the large Styrofoam take-home
containers we see in restaurants. Several prisoners have special
meal orders like "no tomatoes" or "no peanut products" depending
on taste or allergies. "One prisoner," General Hood said, "throws
back his food tray if it contains things he has specifically said
he doesn't want." How is he punished for this outrageous
behavior? His tray is numbered, the food he requested is put on
it, and the corrected "order" is delivered to his cell.
The detainees are similarly catered to medically. Almost every
one arrived at GITMO with some sort of battlefield trauma. After
all, the majority were captured in combat. Today they are
healthy, immunized, and well cared for. At a visit to the modern
hospital facility - dedicated solely to the detainees and
comparable to a well-equipped and staffed small-town hospital
with operating, dental, routine facilities - the doctor in charge
confirmed that the caloric count for the detainees was so high
that while "most detainees arrived undernourished," medics now
watch for issues stemming from high cholesterol and being
overweight. Each of approximately 520 terrorists currently held
in confinement averages about four medical visits monthly,
something one would expect from only a dedicated American
hypochondriac. Welcome to the rigors of detention under American
supervision.
Of the estimated 70,000 battlefield captures that were made in
Afghanistan, only a tiny percentage, something on the order of
800-plus, were eventually evacuated to GITMO. These were the
worst of the worst. More than 200 have been released back to
their home country - if the U.S. is assured that the detainees
would not be tortured by local authorities upon return. These men
were freed because they were deemed by ongoing official military
review processes to no longer pose a threat, or to possess no
useful intelligence. And this process has proven too generous at
times: more than 10 released GITMO detainees have been killed or
recaptured fighting Americans or have been identified as resuming
terrorist activities. Still, the process is up and running for
review of cases, and if a Washington DC circuit court approves a
government appeal, the system for military tribunals will get
started. All mechanisms are in place and ready to go as soon as
DoD gets a green light.
There is a good reason these unlawful combatants are being
confined. They are evil and dangerous individuals. Yet these
thugs are treated with an amazing degree of compassion: They are
given ice cream treats and recreational time. They live in clean
facilities, and receive a full Muslim religious package of Koran,
prayer rug, beads, and prayer oils. An arrow in every cell points
to Mecca. The call to prayer is played five times daily. They are
not abused, hanged, tortured, beheaded, raped, mutilated, or in
any way treated the way that they once treated their own captives
- or now treat their guards.
Some questioned whether it were wise to give these radical
Islamic fundamentalists the religious supplies that ended up
landing them in Gitmo in the first place. "Giving them the Koran
is simply something that we think we ought to do as a humane
gesture," said second-in-command Brigadier General Gong. "We're
Americans. That's how we operate."
When we challenged military authorities about the seemingly plush
environs these would-be murderers receive, the commanding
officers stated this was the most productive course. JTF-GITMO
commanding officer Brigadier General Jay Hood radiated confidence
and determination when fielding challenges from our group about
his overly lenient treatment. "It works," he says simply. "We do
not allow torture or mistreatment, period." How to they guarantee
this? By rigorous, on-going training and constant oversight up
and down the supervisory chain. As proof that "establishing
rapport" with the detainees is far more effective than coercive
techniques, General Hood refers skeptics to the massive amount of
usable intelligence information JTF-GITMO continues to produce
even three years into the program.
You are right to worry about inhumane treatment taking place at
GITMO. But your concern should be for the dedicated, well-
trained, highly professional American men and women who are
subjected to a daily barrage of feces, urine, semen, and spit
hurled at them along with vile invective as they implement a
humane, enlightened system of confinement on men who want nothing
more than to kill Americans. These quiet professional Americans,
who live under the motto "Honor Bound for Defense of Freedom,"
deserve our utmost respect and concern. Shame on anyone who
slanders or disrespects them for short-term and short-sighted
political advantage.
