There reaches a certain point in an individual’s life when a veil of indifference is tugged down over the eyes. Just the knowledge that children half a world away clench their grumbling stomachs like wet dough is no longer cause enough to care. Evil becomes a largely impersonal entity – a fate that befalls nameless men and women in nameless places. I don’t know a single soul who turns on Channel Nine news in the evening and cringes so hard at the report that they are rendered inconsolable from the trauma of watching it. It is natural to grow accustomed to certain cruelties, and thus, naturally, develop a sort of apathy as we watch events tragically unfold. This is the way of man and his predecessors and posterity. Well, my friend, I raise you one: Guantanamo Bay Detention Center. If there ever was an exception to our societal disinterest, this is it.
Established in 2002, Guantanamo Bay was a hallmark of President Bush’s war on terrorism – a tangible element of his largely idealized mission. The detention center would house those who committed war crimes against the United States – enemies of not just the government, but the people – with the purpose of not just capital punishment, but eliciting intelligence.
It’s difficult to say if GITMO ever achieved its purpose as a prison (the purpose being rehabilitation) considering the severe human rights violations and immoral practices that still take place there today. The Central Intelligence Agency actively practices, what they charmingly call “enhanced interrogation techniques,” otherwise referred to as torture by anyone with a sane grip on connotative language. This violent method of interrogation was intended to force detainees to confess their guilt, rat out their coconspirators , or with a more sadistic intent , simply for the entertainment of GITMO’s guards. What is worse, perhaps, is how their answers are treated as incriminating evidence, despite the fact that they were horrifically coerced to admit their guilt. In any other situation, we’d treat that as a violation of the sixth amendment. But then again, the government doesn’t exactly have an excellent track record when it comes to keeping promises, nevertheless abiding by its own laws.
I introduce you now to Latif Nasser, investigative journalist and host of the podcast The Other Latif. The media journal is centered around the story of Abdul Latif Nasir, Nasser’s namesake. Nasser accidentally discovered his existence through a tweet by Abdul Latif’s attorney, begging then-President Obama to rectify a critically important clerical issue in Nasir’s file. The catch? Abdul Latif Nasir is Detainee #244 at Guantanamo Bay, held as a prisoner of war and charged with heavy involvement in radical jihadist groups in the Middle East. What follows is a riveting expose within a collection of interviews, guest speakers, and narration by Latif Nasser. Episode after episode, listeners hear from expert guest speakers: Nasir’s attorney, Senior CIA Officer Gary Bernsten, and a multitude of other professionals related to Nasir’s case. These individuals tell the stories of GITMO detainees and the grisly conditions they’ve faced. Listening to these personal recounts is like watching firemen dragging a body from a burning building, but in this case, that corpse is the United States – a country built upon the principle of fair justice. There is absolutely nothing democratic about what takes place in Guantanamo Bay.
Among other typical torture techniques, according to Nasser’s guest speakers and research, the detainees are also subjected to severe light and sound exposure, waterboarding, threats of harm to their family, sexual assault, etc. At one point an unnamed speaker on Nasser’s podcast poses the question, “Would you rather listen to Barney’s ‘I love you’ at a deafening volume for two weeks straight or take a razor blade to your genitals?” Nasser stutters, unsure of how to answer such an impossible question. “I suppose I’d take the music,” he timidly answers. His guest immediately shoots back, “That’s the wrong answer. Physical torture, no matter how terrible it may be, has a definite end. Psychological torture, on the other hand, never leaves you.” Allegedly, the prisoners subjected to psychological torture at GITMO would hear voices long after the music had ended, a long term side effect of the sound exposure. If these men weren’t avid enemies of the American Government before, it’s a safe bet to say they absolutely are now.
So no, Guantanamo Bay Detention Center never achieved its goals as a prison, but it most certainly did as a torture den. But what was the cost? Who are we then, to speak of democracy or justice like it means anything, when mere miles off the coastline of Florida, sixteen-year-olds are being subjected to torture? Yes, even minors are not immune to the cruel hand of “due process” at GITMO. Whatever America was built upon, whatever righteousness or liberty or good intention, I can say with certainty it was never meant to be this. Listen to Latif Nasser’s The Other Latif and ask yourself the question: “Is this justice?” I’m fairly certain that you will not like the answer.
The US military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, aka Gitmo, is the finest such facility on earth. ICRC physicians I worked with there in 2002 told me, “No one does [detention operations] better than the US. As per the Geneva Conventions and Law of War, even lawful combatant POWs “may be held without charge or trial until the end of hostilities.” Even so, 731 detainees have been RELEASED, and NONE have been executed, beheaded, blown up, hacked to death, dragged naked and lifeless through the streets, drowned or burned alive. All things our enemies have done to us and/or our allies. There is no moral comparison between how our enemies treat captives and Gitmo. Every detainee was at least an unlawful combatant, which means none of them were entitled to the protections of the Geneva Conventions, and by law could have all been shot dead on the battle field. Unlawful combatant Islamists who want to kill us were brought to Gitmo for interrogation. A handful of detainees were waterboarded, which was legal and approved at the time and did not fit the internationally accepted definition of torture in order to obtain valuable information that saved many lives. Detainees are given FREE Qurans, prayer rugs and beads, directions to Mecca, white robes, services of US military Muslim chaplains, halal and Muslim holy holiday meals, world class health, vision and dental care, recreation, books, library, TV, DVDs, video games, correspondence, sports and more. Gitmo is a small piece to the big puzzle of how we win the Global War on Terror. Sincerely, MAJ (RET) Montgomery J. Granger, former ranking US Army Medical Department officer with the Joint Detainee Operations Group, Joint Task Force 160, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Author: Saving Grace at Guantanamo Bay: A Memoir of a Citizen Warrior. Narrator: Heroes of GITMO, by PolitiFlix, a short documentary film based on my book, on YouTube.
Major Granger – Thank you for your comment & your service. It’s alway.s nice to hear different perspectives on the topics I cover. However, I’d like to point out a few things you said that I fundamentally disagree with:
1. Yes, waterboarding became illegal in 2005. That does not mean that the torture stopped. There are a plethora of in-depth research articles, novels, & private investigations that prove this to be true. In 2006, after the Bush Administration applied enough pressure, Congress gave the CIA permission to continue with other interrogation methods – which for the most part, are classified. “Enhanced interrogation” can mean anything. The U.S Senate Intelligence Committee actually released a report that demonstrated how the information gained through this “method” was unreliable, because it was coerced through agonizing circumstances. I’d also like to point out, that even if waterboarding or any other practice is not recognizing as torture, that does not mean that it isn’t. Waterboarding simulated drowning and was often used for lengthy amounts of time. I wouldn’t exactly call it a pleasant experience.
2. There absolutely is a moral comparison between how our enemies treat us and GITMO. In fact – that is the entire point of the argument. I’m making an ethical statement here – that we as a country need to do better to set a moral standard for our posterity. Perhaps we haven’t killed any of the detainees, but that does not mean we haven’t done equally horrific things in our history. To note a few, the Abu Ghraib Incident in 2004, American’s mutilating Japanese corpses in 1984, heck – we even enslaved an entire race of people for over 4oo years – killing their children, brutally raping their women, lynching their sons and fathers. The mere implication that we aren’t “on their level,” is incorrect.
3. The Geneva Convention. In 2006, the Supreme Court ruled that Geneva Conventions have complete power in Guantanamo Bay. Then the Bush Administration argued that the detainees were enemy combatants, not POW. Bush’s “War on Terror” didn’t even meet the definition of an “international armed conflict” under Article 2 of the Geneva Conventions. The entire legality of the situation was extremely muddy and unclear – one minute these men deserve rights, and the next, they are not viewed as human beings. It seems to be used as a sort of failsafe for America – we encourage it’s punishments but claim the rights do not apply.
4. You are correct on the fact that these prisoners are afforded certain liberties. That is a wonderful, noble thing. The same government who afforded them those luxuries (TV, white robes, etc.) also allowed it’s Intelligence Agency to pretend to be lawyers to elicit information – instilling a severe mistrust that would later come to par when the real lawyers arrived and complained that the detainees wouldn’t tell them anything. The same government authorized CIA Black Sites, where many a detainee were taken – a place where nobody can say for sure what happens, save that those prisoners claim they were subjected to severe torture. I could go on and on. I’m sure having a prayer rug is a kindness to these detainees, but I’m fairly confident they would much rather be treated as human beings with due process & some scrap of legal right than a robe, regardless of it’s religious value.
So you see, it absolutely is a moral problem. There’s no question about it. I understand that these men have committed severe wrongdoings, and I am not suggesting that they go unpunished for it. What they did was awful – and they should be persecuted. I do not hate America either, but I will always advocate for a better future, even if that means calling my own country out on its shortcomings. Every single detainee in GITMO is somebody’s child. Somebody’s brother or father. And I’m not as naive to suggest that these men haven’t killed loved ones. They absolutely have. The difference – is that we are not them. We hold ourselves to higher standard – one of equality, of fairness, of liberty. And this – what happens at GITMO – is none of those things.
I do not want my children to be raised in a world where they thing it’s okay to hurt others simply because they hurt you. That is not a world of peace or love or goodness, nor is it a world I’m even remotely interested in living in.
Best to you,
Gracyn McGathy
Media Reviewer for The Optimist