Posted on 06/25/2005 9:35:57 AM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
American lawmakers on Saturday were touring the U.S. prison for suspected terrorists for the first time since recent harsh condemnation of Guantanamo detainees' treatment and renewed demands that the camp close.
"Guantanamo has become a lightening rod," said Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif.
She was one of 16 members of the House Armed Services Committee who were on a one-day fact-finding trip. Sens Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., were visiting the prison separately.
Lawmakers from both parties fear that the prison at the U.S. Navy base has become an image problem because of claims that U.S. interrogators abuse and torture inmates.
In this photo reviewd by the U.S. military, a guard The chairman of the House committee, Rep. Duncan Hunter, said such criticism amounted to "wild accusations." Hunter, R-Calif., blamed "propagandists" for spreading "rumor and innuendo" to hurt the U.S.
Under increasing attacks over conditions at the prison, the White House and Pentagon have defended almost daily the conditions and treatment of detainees at Guantanamo.
At a recent news conference, President Bush went so far as to invite journalists to see the prison and see that the allegations were false.
Just last week, human rights investigators for the United Nations urged the U.S. to allow them inside to inspect the facility. They cited "persistent and credible" reports of "serious allegations of torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees" as well as arbitrary detentions and violations of rights.
In response, Vice President Dick Cheney told CNN on Thursday that the detainees are well treated, well fed and "living in the tropics."
The prison on the base in eastern Cuba opened in January 2002 to house foreigners believed to be linked to the ousted Taliban in Afghanistan or al-Qaida. U.S. officials hoped to gather intelligence from the detainees after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001.
Bush declared the detainees "enemy combatants," affording them fewer rights than prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions. Some detainees have been held for three years without being charged with any crimes even though the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled they have some rights.
An FBI report last year cited cases of aggressive interrogation techniques and detainee mistreatment.
Condemnation of Guantanamo intensified this spring after Newsweek magazine published - and later retracted - a story that claimed interrogators flushed the Muslim holy book down a toilet.
The Bush administration condemned the report and blamed it for deadly demonstrations in Afghanistan and protests throughout the Middle East. A Pentagon investigation later disclosed five instances of U.S. guards' mishandling the Quran.
Amnesty International then branded Guantanamo "the gulag of our time," compared it with the Soviet work camps where thousands of people perished, and alleged a pattern of mistreatment similar to that at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.
The administration says any proven infractions were isolated.
The debate about Guantanamo's role has taken center stage in Washington.
Presidents Carter and Clinton joined fellow Democrats in saying that it should be shot down. Even some Republicans have questioned whether it should stay open.
White House officials say there are no plans to close the facility because the detainees are too dangerous to release while the fight against terrorism continues.
About 520 prisoners are held at Guantanamo. Already, $110 million has been spent on construction at the base. The prison costs about $95 million a year to operate.
Lawmakers in both parties want Congress to take a stand on the legal rights of detainees. Other lawmakers are pushing for an independent commission to investigate abuse allegations. The White House objects and says the Pentagon already has investigated.
The last lawmaker to visit the prison was Rep. Vito Fossella, R-N.Y., in March. Not including Saturday's trip, 11 senators and 77 representatives have toured the prison.
How about if we trade the detainees for the members of the 'Hate the United States' crowd (i.e., the members of Congress1)
Congress has become a bunch of pansy appeasing lemmings. Do they ever think about the ppl that died on that downed airplane? what if the terrorists had actually made it to the Capitol building?.. some days I wake up and justwonder if we still have a country..
Or better yet, they should attend the 3-week course!
Then they'll make a lot fewer stupid comments about GITMO.
What ??? ... Durbin didn't go?
I would hope that some of the liberal members of this group could actually remain there where they belong. I am sure that we can provide them with quiche, chablis, sushi, "Das Kapital" and all of the great writings of Gloria Steinham as well as a multi-year subscription to the "Nation". They would be released on the condition that they never run for public office again nor vote in any except those at the township and ward level.
Torture would consist of providing them with copies of the Torah, all of Judeo-Christian scripture, the U.S. Constitution, Pat Boone songs and piped in sermons by Billy Graham and the late Pope John Paul II.
The congress-critters are hoping to confirm all the worst lying propaganda regarding Gitmo.
Detain these people there also. It's a resort for terrorists. Give them all an honorary "Club GITMO" T-shirt from Rush's website. These prisoners gained an average of 15 pounds sitting around also. They need swimming lessons and surfing lessons to get to the freedom a few miles away in Castro's part where they will slim down.
Hmmmmmmmm, I wonder if they will have lunch there? /sarc
One wonders, what is the scale by which these critics of the treatment of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay measure the degree of "mistreatment"? Are they soliciting the votes of the detainees? Or do they just want something to whack the Bush Administration about?
Sometimes, reality MUST intrude into their lives. But if they lie down for just a few minutes, it goes away....
Wait til they find out they don't turn down the sheets at bedtime, nor is there a mint on their pillows. Oh, the sheer torture of it all!
Let see now, 95 million per year divided by 510 prisoners, that is over $180,000 per year per prisoner. These have got to be the most expensive "abused" prisoners in the world. Is there a sane person anywhere that would believe that these people are being mistreated ?
These aren't the first Dems to visit Gitmo
John Corzine was there around the Christmas/New Years holiday and found nothing wrong there
It was even reported that Corzine said the troops were doing a good job there
Only because liberals continue to make it one. They don't care about Guantanamo. They just care about making the President, the military, and America look bad.
Yes. I wouldn't be surprised if they like laying around, watching TV, getting fat, and refuse to leave.
I think some of our congressmen should spend a few weeks in a Fallujah basement locked in a cage or chained to a wall.
A nice vacation if you can get in on it:)
Durbin can't go. WHat's he going to report on when he gets back?
He'd have to mention that five times a day our soldiers walk in painted footsteps around Gitmo so the terrorists who are praying don't hear the soldier's boots sqeak.
Osama must be laughing his head off.
Some one pee on them when they hold the Koran!
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