October 2, 2006

Gitmo First-Hand

I have yet to hear anyone who has actually visited the U.S. detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay criticize the conditions or treatment of detainees there. I've assembled links to the reports of a few of the journalists to visit the complex in recent days, along with Patterico's interview with a man previously stationed there. We could hope that our own soldiers might be treated half as well if they were captured by our enemies. But we know better.

Here's an excerpt from Rich Lowry's NRO column:

To enter one of the heavily barricaded camps for detainees here feels like walking into a low-grade war zone. Which is what it is. The extremists held here haven’t given up their ideology, or their fight. The struggle to harm America in whatever way, no matter how minuscule, carries on.

In one camp, detainees were taking apart the push-button faucets in their cells to get at a metal spring that they would stretch out to use as a weapon. The Asian-style toilets on the floors of the cells used to have footrests, until detainees wrenched them from the floor to use as bludgeoning weapons. The guards are splashed routinely with urine and feces. The detainees have even been known to try to kick their soccer balls out of their recreation area into barbed wire, to cost the infidels the price of one ball.

All the disturbances or suicides have taken place in the camps where security has been loosened. It was in Camp Four, where the best-behaved detainees are allowed to live communally, that a minor riot took place this past spring. A detainee faked a suicide attempt to lure the guards into the living area, where the floor had been smeared with urine, feces and soap. When they slipped, the detainees attacked them with light fixtures and other makeshift weapons. The man in charge here, Adm. Harry Harris, says his conclusion was “there is no such thing as a medium-security terrorist.”

While always mindful that they are dealing with dangerous men, the Americans treat them humanly, even sensitively. Seemingly every surface has a painted arrow pointing toward Mecca. Every detainee gets a Koran, and should it be necessary to search one, it is done by a Muslim translator, not a guard. Detainees are offered 4,200 calories a day. U.S. combat troops get 3,800. The average detainee has gained 18 pounds.


Here's the first in a series of posts by Patterico featuring his interview of a man who was stationed at Guantanamo Bay, and has spoken at length with some of the inmates there.

And Mark Steyn puts his characteristically humorous spin on the story of his recent visit to Gitmo. You'll want to read it all.

Claudia Rosett was also at Gitmo the other day, and files her report, with a promise of more to come.

Posted by dan at October 2, 2006 2:25 PM