Book Shines Positive Light On Guantanamo

By Annie Berman - Talk Radio News Service

Most books about the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay concentrate on the detainees and their interrogation. Karen Greenberg's book, “The Least Worst Place: Guantanamo's First 100 Days" focuses instead on a group of U.S soldiers who tried to stop the Pentagon from bypassing the Geneva Conventions and implementing harsh policies, including torture policies.

Greenberg, the Executive Director of the Center of Law and Security
at the New York University School of Law, spoke today at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

“There’s a lot of talk about was this a systematic torture policy? The way that people have gone about answering the question is to focus on Washington, the Pentagon, Bush, Cheney, Paddington...Now we know [orders to torture detainees] came from the top,” Greenberg said.

In her research, Greenberg interviewed troops stationed at Guantanamo who worked at the detention facility when the first detainees arrived in 2002.

Greenberg believes that the 1,700 troops that received the first 300 detainees at Guantanamo followed the guidelines of the Geneva Convention and treated the detainees decently.

Uyghur Gitmo Detainees Described As "Peaceful Men"

A group of 17 Uyghur men are being held at Guantanamo Bay for no reason according to the defense attorney for six of the men.

Uyghurs (Wee-gurs) are a group of Turkic people who live in the areas of Central Asia that is commonly known as East Turkestan. The men were picked up during the Afghan war by bounty hunters and handed over to the U.S. They believe they have been portrayed as dangerous terrorists, however, they have been working to change their image to that of peaceful, innocent men. They have been held at Guantanamo for 6 years.

“What the American public needs to understand about the Uyghurs at Guantanamo is that they have been exonerated by the military,” said Susan Baker Manning, a lawyer for six of the men, at a press conference Tuesday in Washington, D.C., “They were exonerated by the Bush administration and they have been exonerated by the courts. The courts have found that there is no evidence of a link to terrorism. The courts have found that there is no evidence that they are dangerous in any way, shape or form. We cannot in good faith and we cannot Constitutionally continue to imprison these innocent men at Guantanamo," Manning said.

According to Manning, a military translator confused the word “protest” in Uyghur for “fight.” She said the mistranslation may be the reason the men have been held at Guantanamo.

Manning added that she believes the administration is dedicated to the release of these men and it has to happen as soon as possible. There is currently a Supreme Court petition pending for a review of the men’s cases.

Justice at the Price of Safety

By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service

A unified approach to closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay will be crucial in order to meet the one-year deadline signed into law in January by President Obama, according to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who testified before the House Judiciary Committee Thursday.

Holder said the Department has "no choice but to release" some of the detainees. He said they must be released because otherwise an order from the In terms of release, we have to release them or an order from the U.S. courts would be defied.

The Department of Justice is taking the lead from the work set out by President Barack Obama to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and ensure that the policies going forward “live up to our nation’s value,” said Holder.

The Guantanamo Review Task Force will make decisions about where detainees will be housed on an individual basis. Holder said that Task Force's decisions will be guided by “what is in the interest of national security, the foreign policy interests of the United States and the interests of justice.”

Ranking Member U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) said “the President has announced the closure of Guantanamo Bay without any plan for the terrorists detained there and has admitted that he cannot guarantee that those detainees who are released will not seek to attack our country again.”

In response, Holder reiterated that the Department isn’t going “to do anything, anything that would put the American people at risk. Nothing.”

“The Most Dangerous Credit Card in the History of the World”

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

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House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio)
Photo by Michael Ruhl

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) called congressional voting cards “the most dangerous credit card in the history of the world”, because then enable Congress and the president to engage in reckless spending. This was not Boehner's first criticism of Obama, but his statement came on the 101st day of the Obama Administration, a time which Boehner has criticized as being pock marked with excessive borrowing, reckless spending and a massive growth in government.

Boehner said that Democrat’s “record on spending and debt is staggering, but our economy is growing weaker, and it’s not going to get any better by growing the size of the government here in Washington.”

Boehner believes that the Democratically controlled Congress has enabled and contributed to the recklessness, and thinks it is up to the Republicans to put a stop to it. Republicans must be “the party of better solutions” if they are going to stand up to the Democrats in Congress, Boehner said, adding that he hopes Democrats will be committed to a bipartisan policy approach..

Citing the elections of 2008, Boehner said “out brand has been tarnished”, but to help the party serve the American people, Republicans must stand up to the Obama Administration when disagreements arise, and to offer alternative solutions.

Leader Boehner applauded President Obama on his strategy towards Afghanistan and Iraq, but showed concern at Obama’s greater national security policy.

“The big question continues to be: what is the Administration’s overarching plan to fight terrorism? Judging from their recent decision to release 30 terrorist detainees with no plan on where to put them, it continues to beg the question,” referring to Obama’s closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention center without knowing where the detainees will be sent.

President Obama's Guantanamo decisions bring joy to Human Rights Leaders

A delegation of retired military officers from the organization Human Rights First expressed confidence in the new administration's commitment to human rights following a meeting with President Obama and Vice President Biden.

"There was a sense, I think, of satisfaction but also very much determination; determination that this was the right thing to do and that we would be consistent with this going forward" said retired Admiral John Hudson during a conference call with reporters.

"There was certainly among us, the sixteen retired generals that were there, a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction and joy, perhaps, that the country was getting back on track with regards to the issues that we feel so strongly about."

The retired Admiral went on to laud Obama's executive orders regarding Guantanamo and the treatment of prisoners, pointing to the advantages of due process in civilian courts. The delegation noted the use of Guantanamo torture as "recruiting posters" for Al-Qaeda, the counterproductive nature of torture, and the tone of discipline that will be set by changing these practices.


Human Rights First has been working to advance prisoner treatment qualities, and has been active in legislative and public debates about torture over the last several years. They see the three executive orders which Obama signed today as congruent with their goals, and a definitive step in the right direction.

Retired Admiral Lee Gunn reminded reporters of the tone of President Obama's meeting: "There will be substatial conversation... about what happens looking back... But at the moment, and it strikes me as being completely appropriate, the focus is on moving forward."