Posted on 11/16/2005 12:07:11 PM PST by Sub-Driver
U.S. Has Detained 83,000 in War on Terror
By KATHERINE SHRADER, Associated Press Writer 11 minutes ago
The United States has detained more than 83,000 foreigners in the four years of the war on terror, enough to nearly fill the NFL's largest stadium. The administration defends the practice of holding detainees in prisons from Afghanistan to Guantanamo Bay as a critical tool to stop the insurgency in Iraq, maintain stability in Afghanistan and get known and suspected terrorists off the streets.
Roughly 14,500 detainees remain in U.S. custody, primarily in Iraq.
The number has steadily grown since the first CIA paramilitary officers touched down in Afghanistan in the fall of 2001, setting up more than 20 facilities including the "Salt Pit," an abandoned factory outside Kabul used for CIA detention and interrogation.
In Iraq, the number in military custody hit a peak on Nov. 1, according to military figures. Nearly 13,900 suspects were in U.S. custody there that day partly because U.S. offensives in western Iraq put pressure on insurgents before the October constitutional referendum and December parliamentary elections.
The detentions and interrogations have brought complaints from Congress and human-rights groups about how the detainees often Arab and male are treated.
International law and treaty obligations forbid torture and inhumane treatment. Classified memos have given the government ways to extract intelligence from detainees "consistent with the law," administration officials often say.
On Capitol Hill, Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz., is leading a campaign to ban cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody. The administration says the legislation could tie the president's hands. Vice President Dick Cheney has pressed lawmakers to exempt the CIA.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
HOW MANY KILLED! Thats what I want to know!
"I know that doesn't fit you Hate Mexicans Dogma, it is, however, reality. Too bad for delusions"
Whoa! Dude, where do you infer I hate Mexicans? I am happly married to an American of Mexican decent and have numerous friends that are first generation Americans whose family came over from Mexico, in a time where most came over here because they wanted to be Americans, not just send money home.
No, I live in south Texas and know first hand what kind of sham our border enforecment has been for the last few decades.
Let's face it. The world is just not going to wrap its arms around the democracy movement until the Dems are in charge of it. Part of me is upset by this fact but, it's really bigger than any political party so, we all have to let it go. GW (and us repubs) will get his credit when all of us are dead and gone. That's just the way it is.....
Thanks for the humor. I needed a good laugh :-)
That's a fascinating statistic, 83,000. Except that it's totally irrelevant. The fact that we have 14,500 is relevant, of course, but since it's such a small, reasonable number it's clearly not fit for being the headline.
Closing the borders = hating Mexicans?
Ha. I say let's keep going until we've filled up the "Big House" in Ann Arbor. Got 112,118 in there for Ohio State in 2003 and that's not even using the playing field.
How many drivers have been "detained" in the war on drunk drivers vs. how many convictions?
"Detained" includes those released. I'd like to know how many were detained "again".
Is there any subject about which you don't post worthless insults?
Yea, so?
Sounds like a good start, considering the numbers of caveman that subscribe to this primitive cult.
My wife is not a US Citizen (yet) she is detained every time we take a plane trip.
Best post of the day!!!
Well, it keeps them off the field and out of the game.
Good call from the coach!
I agree completely! Shrader did nothing but fan the flames of hate for the US and our soldiers with that ridiculous headline. Did you see where she identified the detainees as "often Arab and male"? Well DUH!
What we call "a good start."
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