John Simpson, in a BBC commentary on the recently-released footage of British soldiers beating the daylights out of some Iraqi teenagers (probably in 2003) and why nobody is surprised, explains how many, and probably most, of the detainees and abductees still being held in Cuba came to be there:
In total, 60% are there because they have been accused of being associated with a group which the US government regards as a terrorist organisation.
Most detainees are regarded as enemy combatants.
Among the criteria reportedly used to define an enemy combatant are these: possession of a rifle; possession of a Casio watch; and wearing olive drab clothing.
In Afghanistan it has long been regarded as normal for every adult male to have a gun, because there was so much violence in the country.
Casio watches and olive-coloured clothes can be bought in every market in every town in the country.
But where do all these prisoners come from, anyway?
According to the Pentagon, 95% of them were not captured by the Americans themselves.
Some 86% were handed over in Afghanistan and Pakistan after a widespread campaign in which big financial bounties were offered in exchange for anyone suspected of links to al-Qaeda and the Taleban.
The US lawyers quote the text of one of the notices the Americans handed out: "Get wealth and power beyond your dreams... You can receive millions of dollars helping the anti-Taleban forces catch al-Qaeda and Taleban murderers.
"This is enough money to take care of your family, your village, your tribe for the rest of your life."
So, according to the figures supplied by the Pentagon, it looks as though more than 440 men out of the total of 517 at Guantanamo were handed over to the Americans in Afghanistan and Pakistan as a direct result of these bounties.
Salaamu Alaykum,
That's a particularly distressing article. Does anyone know if his original sources are available to the public?
Ma as-salaama,
AT Webby
Salaam 'alaikum,
The law professor's report mentioned in the BBC story:
http://andalus.wordpress.com/2006/02/07/a-profile-of-517-detainees-through-analysis-of-department-of-defense-data-2/
A swedish documentary has recently been filmed, called Gitmo. I hope it reaches the UK as well.
On a different note, have you seen the movie Syriana? Showing the fate of many (pakistani) young men and how "simple" the explanation of how men or indeed women become suicide bombers is.
Ofocurse the movie covers other aspects of world politics and the US hand in it all.
"In total, 60% are there because they have been accused of being associated with a group which the US government regards as a terrorist organisation."
I don't believe its only the US gov that thinks that al-Qaeda is a terrorist organization. A lot of us Ghora's think so too.
You can have a peak at some of the prisoners at www.cageprisoners.com Hey I would arrest(maybe shoot) these guys on site, and what the hell were arabs and white converts(bearded types with short pants) doing in the wilds of Afganistan?
And what type of torture are we talking about here. Loud noise? making someone sit in an uncomfortable position? I went to a strict Catholic school and worse things were done to us.(please no buggery jokes)
Shaykhspeara,
I have not seen the movie, and I don't think I will. But considering that most Pakistani suicide bombers blow up their Shia fellow citizens, I don't know how the movie is going to convince anyone that somehow its US foreign policy that is creating these fanatics.
Sorry, I just realized that wordpress is down. Here's the original link:
http://law.shu.edu/news/guantanamo_report_final_2_08_06.pdf
Assalaamu alaikum,
Asma, there were people in Afghanistan for jihad, but there were also people there for other reasons, especially doing charity work, and many of them were handed over to U.S. soldiers for the reward money. Since they were not battle-hardened soldiers, they were easy to catch and turn in.
And a lot of these prisoners weren't even taken in Afghanistan; they were in Pakistan or other places.
...what the hell were arabs and white converts(bearded types with short pants) doing in the wilds of Afganistan?
Asma,
I am afraid that is an invalid and uninformed proposition.
It's like asking what were the companions (arabs and converts at that) of the Prophet (peace be upon) doing in China, Asia, Africa, etc in the 7th century onwards. Or asking what is anyone doing anywhere, just because you are paranoid?
Your reasoning is similar to the same that was used to charge these innocent people now in Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere.
Civility demands that you present hard evidence as to why they are "illegal combatants" (a very useless and meaningless term anyway). Who is legal and illegal in an ILLEGAL war. Amazing!
You guys make me laugh sometimes. It's unbelievable how "you" have been able to get away with so much atrocities and injustices.
"You" invade a country and then call the people fighting back "rebels", "militias", "insurgents", etc.
"Oh, look at them, they are fighting back, they are criminals..."
Come on...give yourself a break!
Asma,
Another of your comments:
I don't believe its only the US gov that thinks that al-Qaeda is a terrorist organization. A lot of us Ghora's think so too.
A lot of muslims think so too and would like to see them wiped out or reformed, but they also think the US government is a much bigger terrorist.
Ann
“There were people in Afghanistan for jihad, but there were also people there for other reasons, especially doing charity work, and many of them were handed over to U.S. soldiers for the reward money. Since they were not battle-hardened soldiers, they were easy to catch and turn in.”
Agreed some were innocent, and I would admit that the occasional innocent Afghan goatherd was turned over by unscrupulous people to the coalition or northern alliance forces. However, the vast majority of interns in Cuba are Arabs who hailed from the Gulf who were in Afghanistan in a fighting capacity, many were members of Al-Qaeda’s infamous 55 brigade which did most of the Taliban’s fighting, and massacres, particularly against the Shia Hazara. As for those Muslims doing charity work a lot of them as you know were ideologically allied with the Taliban or had close links with Al Qaeda. The bizarre Canadian-Egyptian Khadre family is a good example of this close relationship between Al-Qaeda and Muslim charity groups.
Ann, I would reserve my tears for more deserving people.
Asma,
Did you even bother to read the report? :
1. Fifty-five percent (55%) of the detainees are not determined to have committed any
hostile acts against the United States or its coalition allies.
2. Only 8% of the detainees were characterized as al Qaeda fighters. Of the remaining
detainees, 40% have no definitive connection with al Qaeda at all and 18% are have no definitive
affiliation with either al Qaeda or the Taliban.
3. The Government has detained numerous persons based on mere affiliations with a
large number of groups that in fact, are not on the Department of Homeland Security terrorist
watchlist. Moreover, the nexus between such a detainee and such organizations varies considerably.
Eight percent are detained because they are deemed “fighters for;” 30% considered “members of;” a
large majority – 60% -- are detained merely because they are “associated with” a group or groups the
Government asserts are terrorist organizations. For 2% of the prisoners their nexus to any terrorist
group is unidentified.
4. Only 5% of the detainees were captured by United States forces. 86% of the
detainees were arrested by either Pakistan or the Northern Alliance and turned over to United States
custody. This 86% of the detainees captured by Pakistan or the Northern Alliance were handed over to the
United States at a time in which the United States offered large bounties for capture of suspected
enemies.
5. Finally, the population of persons deemed not to be enemy combatants – mostly
Uighers – are in fact accused of more serious allegations than a great many persons still deemed to
be enemy combatants.