Newsweek round two
The LA Times claims that Newsweek might not have been so out of line after all.
An examination of hearing transcripts, court records and government documents, as well as interviews with former detainees, their lawyers, civil liberties groups and U.S. military personnel, reveals dozens of accusations involving the Koran, not only at Guantanamo, but also at American-run detention facilities in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"They tore it and threw it on the floor," former detainee Mohammed Mazouz said of guards at Guantanamo Bay. "They urinated on it. They walked on top of the Koran. They used the Koran like a carpet."
"We told them not to do it. We begged. And then they did it some more," said Mazouz, a Moroccan who was seized in Pakistan soon after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Recently released, he described the alleged incidents in a telephone interview from his home in Marrakech.
Sure, I'd like to take their word for it, but I can't. A terrorist's word is simply not his bond. In this situation, I think I'm going to have to side with the chaplain.
"There were scuffles, there were problems, the prisoners were not happy," recalled Army Lt. Col. Raymond A. Tetreault, a Catholic priest and chaplain at Guantanamo Bay during 2002.
Understandably so. No one enjoys being locked up.
Acknowledging that detainees continue to raise allegations of Koran mistreatment, the chaplain said, "Well, it's human nature to embellish a little bit."
Terrorists are trained con artists, and I think it's important that we understand that. They are probably smart enough to know that if word got out about mistreatment, the Islamic world would go up in flames. And that can only mean sympathy for their cause. Call me naive, but I find it very hard to believe that U.S. soldiers would be stupid enough to pull off stunts like flushing a Koran down the toilet. But I suppose after the Abu Ghraib scandal, anything is possible. Although you'd think that someone in the military hierarchy would have learned from that incident.
"We never took the Koran into an interrogation or used it in any way against them," said Paul Holton, a chief warrant officer with the Army National Guard in Utah who questioned high-level Iraqi military officers after the U.S.-led invasion.
"It was just understood that that was off-limits." It was also considered counterproductive, he said.
Always trust a Mormon.
But in all seriousness: Has our military judicial system gone mad, or have the inmates? Both good questions indeed.
An examination of hearing transcripts, court records and government documents, as well as interviews with former detainees, their lawyers, civil liberties groups and U.S. military personnel, reveals dozens of accusations involving the Koran, not only at Guantanamo, but also at American-run detention facilities in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"They tore it and threw it on the floor," former detainee Mohammed Mazouz said of guards at Guantanamo Bay. "They urinated on it. They walked on top of the Koran. They used the Koran like a carpet."
"We told them not to do it. We begged. And then they did it some more," said Mazouz, a Moroccan who was seized in Pakistan soon after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Recently released, he described the alleged incidents in a telephone interview from his home in Marrakech.
Sure, I'd like to take their word for it, but I can't. A terrorist's word is simply not his bond. In this situation, I think I'm going to have to side with the chaplain.
"There were scuffles, there were problems, the prisoners were not happy," recalled Army Lt. Col. Raymond A. Tetreault, a Catholic priest and chaplain at Guantanamo Bay during 2002.
Understandably so. No one enjoys being locked up.
Acknowledging that detainees continue to raise allegations of Koran mistreatment, the chaplain said, "Well, it's human nature to embellish a little bit."
Terrorists are trained con artists, and I think it's important that we understand that. They are probably smart enough to know that if word got out about mistreatment, the Islamic world would go up in flames. And that can only mean sympathy for their cause. Call me naive, but I find it very hard to believe that U.S. soldiers would be stupid enough to pull off stunts like flushing a Koran down the toilet. But I suppose after the Abu Ghraib scandal, anything is possible. Although you'd think that someone in the military hierarchy would have learned from that incident.
"We never took the Koran into an interrogation or used it in any way against them," said Paul Holton, a chief warrant officer with the Army National Guard in Utah who questioned high-level Iraqi military officers after the U.S.-led invasion.
"It was just understood that that was off-limits." It was also considered counterproductive, he said.
Always trust a Mormon.
But in all seriousness: Has our military judicial system gone mad, or have the inmates? Both good questions indeed.
posted by Remz Pokorny @ 9:05 PM
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