Bush Cracks Down on Gitmo Detainees, Despite Overwhelming Evidence Most are Not Terrorists

Tweet "The U.S. is holding hundreds of innocent people at its detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"Military authorities at Guantanamo have decided to tighten the screws on detainees because it has been determined that the U.S. has been too kind and accommodating to them.

"If you find those two sentences jarring and contradictory, you're not alone, yet both were leading news items in today's newspapers. The first appeared in a page one story in of the Philadelphia Inquirer by Associated Press reporter Andrew O. Selsky, which said most of the detainees are innocent of any crime. The second was a page one story in the New York Times by reporter Tim Golden, who reported on a harsh crackdown on Guantanamo detainees, including removal of common eating privileges, inmate soccer games, and incentives for good behavior by prisoners.

"Selsky, who traced what happened to 245 of some 360 Guantanamo detainees released by the U.S., found that 205 of them, upon arriving in their countries of origin, were immediately released, after their home governments determined that they were, after all, not dangerous terrorists.

"According to Selsky, all 83 Afghan captives sent back to Afghanistan were freed after the government there determined that most had simply been turned over to American forces because of "tribal or personal rivalries" and to collect ransoms being offered by US forces.
Pakistan released 67 of 70 Pakistani captives returned to that country after it was determined they too were "innocent."

"All 29 detainees repatriated to Britain, Spain, Germany, Russia, Australia, Turkey, Denmark, Bahrain and the Maldives, were freed within hours of being sent home by the U.S., which had delivered them bound hand and food as "dangerous terrorists."

Dave Lindorff on Counterpunch