Much has been made of the three suicides last week at Gitmo. While any suicides should be investigated, it is plain to see that the men involved took their own lives as a protest, a means of generating publicity for the overall cause.
Yes, the Captain has apparently concluded his investigation, which did not include an actual trip to the facility or interviews with anyone there, and has decided (so as not to disturb his conscience and that of his more delicate readers) that this was, in fact, a PR move - echoing the words of Colleen Graffy - which the Bush administration quickly distanced itself from.
Regardless, case closed according to Captain's Quarters.
But wait a minute...
He goes on to write:
This is no different than at any other American prison; suicide rates in prisons are three times higher than among the general population, and ten times higher in pre-trial detention facilities.
I'd venture to guess that Ed believes those suicides are also publicity stunts. I mean why else would someone in prison commit suicide except for that very reason?
His assertions come in a post that quotes an Afghan delegation that claims, after visiting Gitmo, that the facilities are 'humane'. We've all seen the official pictures: little cots and standard personal supplies, clean rooms and meals. We also know that other delegations who have had the official tour have not seen anything untoward during their visits. Of course they wouldn't. If you want to talk about PR stunts, let's look at how the US military likes to pretend everything at Gitmo is just fine.
Did Ed at Captain's Quarters consider for even a moment that the US still has an incredible amount of influence over the Afghan government and that, perhaps, that factor may have had some impact on their Gitmo report? And, if everything at Gitmo is so 'fine' why would the AMA have had to set policies this past week to instruct its doctors to stop participating in inhumane interrogations at the facility? Did those Afghans get to see any of those? I doubt it.
Last August, the United States and the Afghan government announced an agreement to send Afghans held at the detention center and elsewhere back to their country. No date was specified at the time.
And it hasn't happened yet. What excuse does Bush have for this delay when he's released Afghan prisoners before?
And what are we to make of former Gitmo detainees claims like this one? Or this one? (scroll down to Shafiq Rasul's interview)
Are those just PR stunts as well? Claims of torture, degradation and despair?
And what about reports from Amnesty International and the Red Cross? Are those organizations involved in publicity stunts too?
Is there just some grand conspiracy to fake news about what's going on at Gitmo to get the place shut down? Or could it be that there is actually truth to be found in the variety of impressions by people and organizations that are not under Bush administration control?
Is it enough that Captain's Quarters has declared that all claims that are contrary to its author's narrow views are false? Or that an Afghan delegation found the place to be 'humane'? Ought that be enough?
I certainly don't think so.
Living in denial does not make reality go away, Ed.
Update: According to the Afghan government, the Bush administration decided today that it will extradite 96 Gitmo detainees (in 'different batches') back to Afghanistan. Why are they suddenly being released after this visit by Afghan officials to inspect the camp? Or is that what the visit was really about in the first place?
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