U.S. Lawmakers Tour Guantanamo Bay Prison -Fact Finding

AP ^ | 6/25/05 | Liz Sidoti

[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.

[the anti-liberal]

I'm not leprechaun9, but I thank you for bringing this up.

And didn't President Bush just invite them to see Gitmo for themselves? Perhaps this will put some of whining to rest.

[madison10]

What congressmen, nothing better to do? No, work? No doing whatever the heck you were paid to do!? Who gives a rip about Gitmo?

[CyberAnt]

"How about if we trade the detainees for the members of the 'Hate the United States' crowd (i.e., the members of Congress1)"


That's the best suggestion I've heard all day.

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

I saw that they were "participating" and realized what a waste.

[CyberAnt]

Well .. since it's only House member of the Armed Services Committee .. I doubt they would allow him.

My desire .. that one of the "precious terrorists" would throw either urine or feces on some of the more nasty congress people.

I suspect that would change some minds pretty quick.

[leprechaun9]

Read carefully:

How about if we trade the detainees for the members of the 'Hate the United States' crowd (i.e., the members of Congress1)

If the Representatives that you cited are not part of the 'Hate the United States' crowd, they are not included. If you don't know who in the Congress (Senate and House) are in the 'Hate the United States' crowd, then you should pay more attention!

[oldbrowser]

Maybe the detainees should have been held by the likes of Viet Congs, Nazis, Stalinists, or Tojos.

I had a boss that was in the Bataan Death March and was held prisoner till the end of WW II and he said they worked all day and got a handful of rice for their one meal a day. If they complained they were beaten and if they couldn't work any more they were killed.

[tgslTakoma]

US Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, (D-Texas), talks with members of the media before boarding an airplane headed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Saturday, June 25, 2005 at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. (AP Photo/Haraz Ghanbari)

President George W. Bush insisted that 'war on terror' prisoners at the Guantanamo detention camp are treated humanely after former president Bill Clinton, seen here in May 2005, called for the prison to be 'closed down or cleaned up'(AFP/File/Sena Vidanagama)
(I only posted this photo of the impeached, disgraced, disbarred one because it was such an unflattering shot of him.)

Pakistani Sunni Muslims chant slogans during an anti-U.S. rally in Lahore June 17, 2005. Almi Tanzim-e-Ahle Sunnat or World Sunni Muslims Organisation held the rally in reaction to a Newsweek magazine report, which was later retracted, of U.S. interrogators desecrating the Koran at the Guantanamo Bay prison. REUTERS/Mohsin Raza

[OldFriend]

I hope I heard the Duncan Hunter was with them. They won't dare make up lies if it's true that he's with the group.

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

Bubba, the same banal mindset that bombed first and questioned later?

[ArmyBratproud]

THEY WANT FACTS? I GOT SOME FACTS FOR THEM.

FACT- I am sick and tired of the pondscum out there worried about the comfort of a--holes who want to murder every American, Christian, and Jewish follower on the planet!

FACT- I am sick and tired of spineless gimp beltway schmucks who worry about the meals of those a--holes.

FACT-Those sorry a-- terrorists at GITMO are eating fine dining. Lemon glazed chicken and duck.

While several of my cousins and many buddies are deployed in the War on Terrorism....EATING MEAT THAT RESEMBLES A HOCKEY PUCK (anybody who has ever eating from the plastic pack or the field mess, knows what I mean)!!!!

FACT- Dick Durbin, Joe Biden, and most of the Dems hate America and the troops that protect her.

THOSE RAT B@STARDS COMPARED MY FAMILY TO NAZIS. And they did NOT have the guts to do it to their faces. BECAUSE THEY WOULD HAVE GOTTEN THE SH_T STOMPED OUT OF THEM!

MY FAMILY, AND ALL THE FINE MEN AND WOMEN WHO SERVE WITH THEM...WHETHER THEY BE MILITARY or FEDERAL AGENTS THAT ARE DEPLOYED...OR INTEL FOLKS..........

ARE LIBERATORS! Not an occupying force!

They have stopped a ton of follow on attacks that were planned. They have defended our great nation.

AND I'LL GO TOE TO TOE WITH ANY SH-TBAG WHO TRIES TO SAY DIFFERENT!

AND THAT'S A FACT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bush gal in LA]

Durbin said he couldn't make the trip,being he's had such a stressful past week ,he wasn't about to cancel his spa treatment, massage,and tanning salon .Included,is a manicure and facial in this great deal hes got........but he will look into the facts to see if he can get the Gitmo terrorists a similiar offer............

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

"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."

Spineless US Senate would rather protect Hanoi Kerry
than deal with the anti war crowd.

Anyone who thinks Hanoi Kerry isn't behind the anti war crowd needs to get a clue.

It's time to support our troops and ignore the jelly fish in the US Senate!

There is no need to impeach Hanoi Kerry from the US Senate

He is there illegally!

WAKEUP AMERICA!

For those who "forgot" what Hanoi Kerry
did in the past read on and learn the truth.

Hanoi Kerry was still a USNR officer while he:
gave false hearsay testimony to Congress
negotiated with the enemy
helped the US lose a war
abetted in the deaths of millions
created a hostile environment for all servicemen

Why is Kerry still in the US Senate?
This is in violation of
U.S. Constitution Amendment 14 Sec 3
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.amendmentxiv.html

And the FBI has proof of his treason.

Hanoi Kerry Timeline of a traitor
includes FBI files

May 1970
Kerry and Julia traveled to Paris, France and met with Madame Nguyen Thi Binh, the Foreign Minister of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of Vietnam (PRG), the political wing of the Vietcong, and other Viet Cong and Communist Vietnamese representatives to the Paris peace talks, a trip he now calls a "fact-finding" mission.

(U.S. code 18 U.S.C. 953, declares it illegal for a U.S. citizen to go abroad and negotiate with a foreign power.)

http://www.archive-news.net/Kerry/JK_timeline.html

a) A person charged with absence without leave or missing movement in time of war,
or with any offense punishable by death,
may be tried at any time without limitation.

http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/ucmj.htm#*%20843.%20ART.%2043.%20STATUTE%20OF%20LIMITATIONS

Distribute these url's!

Links to Anti Kerry sites
212 LINKS
News reports,
Viper's Vietnam Veterans Page

http://members.aol.com/ga1449ga/links/links.html


EXPOSE HANOI KERRY!

MUST SEE WEBSITE!!!!

http://www.kerrystreason.com/index.html

Full details on these url's!

http://stophanoikerry.150m.com

There is a backup site
if the 1st url is unavailable.

http://tonkin.spymac.net/hanoikerry1.html

Did you see this...?
(The 'Kerry's Promise Counter')
http://polipundit.com/index.php?p=6628
Polipundit even tells you how to install it on your own page!

Swift Boat Veteran For Truth John O'Neill Comments on Kerry's 180 'Release'
6/7/05
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1418592/posts

John Kerry was dishonorably dismissed from the Navy:
(statement from lawyers there at the time)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1406760/posts

Why does Hanoi Kerry continue to refuse to sign
form SF 180 and release his military records to the public?
Sam Sewell 09 June 2005

http://www.intellectualconservative.com/article4388.html

[EQAndyBuzz]

They should shut down Gitmo. Move the prison to Toule Greenland.

[ken21]

congress doing the bidding of the nyt and wawapost.

[The Spirit Of Allegiance]

Ken21, I think you need to update your tagline:


FROM: (it takes a village to raise a child + to steal your house! /s)


TO: The LEFT village wants to steal your child and raze your house.

[Bush gal in LA]

Your buddies, cousins, and family are protecting these traitor RAT senators right to spout this crap about America being the reason for everything wrong in the world. Someone needs to inform them our free speech isn't FREE!!! It's bought and paid for by our brave military. Wake up AMerica !These traitor DemocRATS are the ememies within our own country. They side with the terrorists on every issue and when someone like Rove points that out they go insane!

[Txsleuth]

YOU may be joking about Durbin not going, BUT---

I think that anyone, Durbin, Biden, Graham, McCain, Reid--any of the ones that agreed with Durbin, and also suggested an independent commission, SHOULD have had to go...and if they couldn't fit it in their schedule, then I say...

TOUGH COOKIES..it must not be THAT big of a priority, if they couldn't take a one day trip down there....it is a disgrace that only 11 Senators, and 70 something House members have done down there....BUT, they all have opinions!!!

[ken21]

how's this?

!!!

(the first one: i left "raise a child" in the former so it would be recognizable to all. )

[tobyhill]

"The sound of visitors clearly upset the detainees. They shouted non-English words and pounding on closed doors" Per CNN.

I think they got a look at Sheila Jackson.