The Washington Post reports that our prison in our prison compound in Cuba now includes a new $31 million concrete and steel prison.
The Post conducted a 3-month investigation of the evolution of American policy in post 9/11 Guantanamo.
The Post explains the selection of Guantanamo to house those we detained abroad after 9/11:
“The lawyers turned to identifying a detention site that would be outside the jurisdiction of the U.S. legal system, safe from attack and quiet enough for focused interrogations. Prison ships were considered. So were remote Pacific islands and the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, where the United States operates a military base under a lease with Britain.
Diego Garcia would require agreements with the British, and Asian locations were deemed too vulnerable. Planners winnowed their list to include a military facility at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., and Alcatraz, the infamous island prison turned tourist attraction in San Francisco Bay, said Mark R. Jacobson, a former Pentagon official who helped devise the detention operation.”
But the problem with Alcatraz is that it’s in America—clearly within the jurisdiction of the U.S. legal system. And our naval bases abroad in other countries—such as Diego Garcia (a British territory)—would require the approval of those countries—and perhaps review in their courts. Prison ships would probably be expensive and insecure, even though they could float in international waters, far from the reach of any country’s law.
Guantanamo was selected precisely because our government sought to conduct its activities free from the rule of law. I have described the Bush Administration’s fear of law
elsewhere. Apparently, our legal system, presided over by Chief Justice Rehnquist, is good enough only for Michael Jackson and sundry sports celebrities.
The Administration proclaimed that those incarcerated were terrorists. "These are the worst of a very bad lot," Vice President Cheney said. This justified radical measures, such as those used when prisoners were transported from Asia to our little bit of Cuba: “One picture showed the captives at Camp X-Ray, shackled and clad in orange jumpsuits, kneeling in the dirt and gravel. The military had strapped muffs over their ears, surgical masks over their mouths and goggles spray-painted black over their eyes. Authorities described the gear as necessary for security during the long plane trip from Afghanistan.”
But as the years have drawn on, some of these “worst of the worst” have been set free—on the theory, I suppose, that some terrorists can be scared straight. According to the Post, “On Oct. 27, 2002, three Afghans and one Pakistani were released. Five months later, 18 detainees were set free. In May 2003, 14 more went home, and four Saudis were sent to their country for further detention.” Some 134 have been released thus far, including—shockingly—a number of children.
A senior Pentagon official is quoted by the Post as saying that "at least half" of the 600 who remain can be sent home. “That has not happened, he said, because the United States has been unable to secure guarantees from foreign governments.” The official continues: "We're really not interested in being the world's jailer."
The warden at Guantanamo, John R. VanNatta, argues that through interrogation of the prisoners, "We may have stopped some terrorist attacks." The Post reports that some disagree:
“But interrogation experts, psychologists and military lawyers say promises of favors and better treatment can lead captives to concoct tales. "It appears to create a tremendous motive to give the investigators and interrogators what they want," said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Philip Sundel, a military lawyer assigned to defend a captive suspected of being a bodyguard for bin Laden.
U.S. Army Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller, who commanded the detention operation until recently, dismissed speculation about false confessions and bad information. He said that each piece of information is vetted by a variety of domestic and foreign intelligence sources and databases, and that 90 percent of the intelligence ultimately proves to be valid. Miller is now in charge of the detainee operation in Iraq, where 8,000 prisoners are being held and six American MPs have been charged with mistreating some of the captives.”
The claim of a 90 percent validity of the intelligence seems quite remarkable. Van Natta, the warden at the prison concludes the Post story as follows:
"If it comes out the way I think it will, it will be viewed as the most unique prison environment ever created. If it comes out that the information we collected did save lives, it will be viewed as one of the smartest moves ever made. If it's proven that there was no intelligence, then it's going to be viewed as a superpower using its power unchecked."