British Defense Secretary John Hutton
...Hutton said that the rendition involving two Pakistani men, who have been in custody at Bagram air base in Afghanistan since 2004, violated a U.S.-British memorandum of understanding specifying that "no person captured with assistance" from British forces "will be removed from the territory of Iraq without prior consultation."
The Pentagon quickly took responsibility for the lapse. "There was a level of formal coordination that should have taken place with respect to a transfer of this nature," spokesman Bryan Whitman said. "Unfortunately, that did not occur in this case. It was an error."...
Secretary Gates needs to change the guard in Gitmo. The bad habits of the USA military sanctioned under Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld are not excuses for attempting to make this President appear worse than the others, in retaliation for orders that close Gitmo. Wow. Who would expect 'temper tantrums' by the USA military. Perhaps the guards that performed the interrogations and water boarding are sincerely worried about their own outcomes.
...LONDON (Reuters) - Abuse of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay has worsened sharply (click here) since President Barack Obama took office as prison guards "get their kicks in" before the camp is closed, according to a lawyer who represents detainees.
Abuses began to pick up in December after Obama was elected, human rights lawyer Ahmed Ghappour told Reuters. He cited beatings, the dislocation of limbs, spraying of pepper spray into closed cells, applying pepper spray to toilet paper and over-forcefeeding detainees who are on hunger strike.
The Pentagon said on Monday that it had received renewed reports of prisoner abuse during a recent review of conditions at Guantanamo, but had concluded that all prisoners were being kept in accordance with the Geneva Conventions....
"Outsourcing Guantanamo" might be a good idea after all. Perhaps the 'sunny' deployment of our military to the island paradise next to Cuba has proven to 'spoil' those that might be concerned regarding their next deployment in this man's military. Can the current military infrastructure be trusted after the tainting of the past? In areas of controversy there needs to be new leadership and change in command structure.
I can hear the 'banter' within the halls of the Pentagon now, "Yeah, he didn't change much around here, did he?" As if to say that what transpired under Bush/Cheney was the only methodologies that 'could' exist. I believe President Obama is acting prudently and cautiously to negate 'opportunity' for threats to national security, but, the military brats that have enjoyed 'immunity' from critics and a great deal of hubris with Rummy aren't taking well to the changes in priorities from their 'free for all' at the 'nod' of Dick Cheney and others.
I almost feel as though their 'self-righteous' actions are a demonstration of how they hate Americans for the change in DC. A little worrisome.
EU warns US over 'new Guantanamo' (click here)
BRUSSELS: The US must not allow its Bagram military base in Afghanistan to become a new Guantanamo Bay if it wants European Union help to close the prison on Cuba, a confidential EU policy document says.
President Barack Obama ordered the closure of Guantanamo Bay, where about 245 people are held. But Obama has yet to decide what to do about the Bagram, where more than 600 prisoners are held, or whether to continue work on a $60 million prison complex there.
EU nations, meanwhile, told the US they had a long list of legal and security questions before they could make any final decision on taking in Bay detainees.
Czech Interior Minister Ivan Langer said EU legal experts should get access to all files on the approximately 60 detainees who need to be accepted by a third country. Spain and Portugal have already said they could accept prisoners, while Germany, France and others remain tightlipped whether they will accept non-nationals.
I don't know. Elevated suicide rates. Now this. The military 'culture' needs to be rethought. It is correct to change a military institution slowly, but, these trends are more than disturbing. There are issues and plenty of them.
Perhaps they've been scrutinized too intensely for too long and surviving all that with a lot of pressure to maintain appearances might have resulted in a feeling of violation to loyal service with the announcement of the base's closing.
The 'fashioned use' of the base at Gitmo is and was 'W'rong. In actuality, it was a form of cowardise to believe that captured and detained human beings could ever pose such a threat to the USA again that they needed their own military instillation. The premise was completely "W"rong. Then the instillation became a media nightmare and a focus of propaganda. In the 'imagination' of Americans, the 'gift' of Gitmo by Bush was proof of the 'War on Terror.' The War on Terror is a myth and propaganda stunt and Gitmo was its validation otherwise.
These issues from the previous administration aren't going to disappear quickly. The military involved are going to have issues regarding the change in purpose at the U.S. Naval Station, Guantanamo. Perhaps the Naval Station will actually find it refreshing to be the southern point of USA defense in the waters of the Gulf and Caribbean again. In many ways a return of the primary purpose is paramount to re-establishing vigilance with the 'border' nations that see the USA as a looming threat. Guantanamo needs to return to being the 'vantage' point for USA Naval Defense other than testing submarine sonar. It has always served the nation well, even before it was exploited for its location following September 11th.
