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In lieu of flowers, it is requested that donations be sent to the Commanding Officer at Gitmo, Navy Rear Adm. Thomas H. Copeman III, so that he can purchase a supply of 240 239 cyanide capsules to be handed out to the detainees like free condoms in a New York Middle school. After all, if they are going commit suicide anyway, we want to make sure they do it the right way.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama says the detainee abuse photos he wants to block from release are "not particularly sensational" and would do no good if published. He said he will not tolerate abuse of prisoners. But he also said Wednesday he had directed his legal team to fight the court-ordered release of the photos because he was concerned about how they might affect the safety of U.S. troops. Obama spoke on the South Lawn of the White House, not long after his decision to fight in court to block the photos' release was made public by aides.

Fox News is reporting that Obama now wants to block the release of detainee abuse photographs taken in Iraq and Afghanistan. The ACLU filed suit to have the photographs released and the Pentagon was about to comply with court orders. Obama met with his legal team to tell them that he does not feel comfortable with the release of those photographs because he believes it could endanger our troops and that the national security implications of releasing the photographs have not been fully presented to the court. At the end of the meeting, Obama directed his legal counsel to object...

A Yemeni held at Guantanamo slashed his wrist and hurled the blood at his lawyer during a meeting at the prison, the attorney said Monday, describing the incident as a suicide attempt by a psychologically troubled man who should be returned home immediately for treatment... A prison spokesman, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Brook DeWalt, confirmed the incident but said Latif's injuries were minor and the prisoner was in no danger. He said the incident would not be categorized as an attempted suicide. "It's a form of self harm, but it is clearly not classified as a suicide attempt," DeWalt said. "It's...

News reports described the meeting as a touching and powerful coming together of the president and these long-suffering families. Mr. Obama had won over even those who opposed his decision to close Gitmo by assuaging their fears that the review of some 245 current detainees would result in dangerous jihadists being set free. “I did not vote for the man, but the way he talks to you, you can’t help but believe in him,” said John Clodfelter to the New York Times. His son, Kenneth, was killed in the Cole bombing. “[Mr. Obama] left me with a very positive feeling...

The US Defense Department said Tuesday it is weighing how best to manage the imminent release of photos showing abuse of detainees amid concern about an international backlash. The Pentagon announced last week it had agreed to release hundreds of photos from US-run prisons in Iraq and elsewhere in response to a long-running lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The photos were used as evidence in criminal investigations of US soldiers accused of abusing detainees in the "war on terror" during president George W. Bush's administration. "There is an extensive effort underway in this building, and in Central...

VILSECK, Germany — "I ain’t no angel," admitted a 172nd Infantry Brigade noncommissioned officer shortly before a military jury sentenced him Thursday to life in prison with the possibility of parole for the execution-style murders of four Iraqi detainees in 2007. Master Sgt. John Hatley, 40, also was reduced to the rank of private and dishonorably discharged less than six months short of 20 years of service. In an unsworn statement, Hatley told the court that he was "… just an ordinary NCO who was afforded the opportunity to be in the company of heroes, to defend our great country...

A Guantanamo Bay prisoner who was given permission to telephone a relative instead called the al Jazeera television network and gave the channel its first interview from inside the prison. The young detainee, from Chad, said he was being beaten and abused at the US detention camp. Transcripts of the recorded interview with Guantanamo captive Mohammad el Gharani were posted on the Qatar-based television network's English-language website on Tuesday. ....He told al Jazeera he had been beaten with batons and teargassed by a group of six soldiers wearing protective gear and helmets after refusing to leave his cell. "This treatment...

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the United States to release a prisoner from the Guantanamo detention center who said he fears for his life after informing against senior al-Qaida leaders. U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle issued a one-page judgment ordering the release of Yasin Muhammed Basardh, a 33-year-old from Yemen. The judge didn't say in the ruling why Basardh should be let go, but she said it was explained during a closed hearing in her courtroom earlier in the day.

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration has agreed to release another Guantanamo detainee, but officials aren't saying yet where he'll go. The Justice Department and lawyers for 38-year-old Aymen Saeed Batarfi have agreed to put his court case on hold while the government looks for a country to take him, according to papers filed in federal court in Washington. Batarfi can restart his lawsuit if he is not delivered to a country acceptable to him within 30 days, according to the terms of the deal that still must be reviewed by a judge.

WASHINGTON, March 19, 2009 – U.S. forces in Iraq have put an emphasis on training in recent days, providing courses to Iraqis that encompass a wide range of operations that include detainee processing, mortar systems and the use of military working dogs. Iraqi soldiers practice searching for contraband as Army Staff Sgt. Robert Roady gives pointers during detainee operations training at the 8th Iraqi Army Division headquarters in Diwaniya province, Iraq, March 11, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Rodney Foliente  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Forces also have continued ongoing humanitarian efforts by providing aid to detainees...

Soldiers from the 8th Iraqi Army Division subdue and place flexi-cuffs on Pvt. Tony Steward, a U.S. Military Policeman, during detainee operations training at the division’s headquarters, March 11. Photo by Sgt. Rodney Foliente, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs. CAMP ECHO — U.S. Military Police conducted detainee operations training for Iraqi Army (IA) Soldiers here, March 11.The class, a refresher course for some of the Iraqi Soldiers and initial training for others, was an effort to bring them all to the same level so they can train their fellow troops.“The purpose of today’s training was to provide the Iraqis with...

The number of ex-Guantanamo detainees who have gone back to terrorism is much larger than the government is letting on. A senior intelligence official, who has access to some of the country's top secrets, tells HUMAN EVENTS that some Pentagon analysts actually believe 102 former enemy combatants have returned to terror -- not 61 as publicly reported by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). That would mean that of 520 terrorists released from the Guantanamo Bay prison, nearly 20 percent returned to the practice of killing to achieve their radical view of Islam. The number is gaining importance in light of...

U.S. officials say the Taliban’s new top operations officer in southern Afghanistan is a former prisoner at the Guantanamo detention center. Pentagon and CIA officials say Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul was among 13 prisoners released to the Afghan government in December 2007. He is now known as Mullah Abdullah Zakir, a name officials say is used by the Taliban leader in charge of operations against U.S. and Afghan forces in southern Afghanistan.

Binyam Mohammed, who planned terrorist attacks on U.S. cities, has been set free... This is a national-security disaster. Up until now, President Obama has voted “present” on enemy combatants. Rather than resolve the dilemma between the law-enforcement approach (which he supported as a candidate) and the law-of-war paradigm, he has said he is studying what to do about the remaining 245 Gitmo detainees. Now, it appears his plan is incalculably worse than either alternative: He is going to let many of them go. Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder now concede that Gitmo is a Grade A detention facility. And...

Evidently the former editor of the Harvard Law Review seems to think that one of his powers as president is personally to pick and choose which constitutional rights apply to terror defendants and which do not. That's the very thing they were criticizing President Bush for. White House Counsel Greg Craig, often seen whispering in the president's ear during question periods, admitted later to Ms. Burlingame that the chief executive was getting the facts of the law wrong during the discussion with the families. Craig asked her if CIPA covers a case in which terrorists defend themselves, noting that "this...

There’s an article in today’s New York Times that completely blows me away (surprise!). Federal judge Ricardo M. Urbina has ordered the release of 17 Club Gitmo detainees. Fine, ok, you don’t think they’re enemy combatants. Make the case and send them back to the enemy territory we scooped them up from. But this is the kicker...they're being released into the US!

Iraq: Detainee death cases headed to trial Two soldiers await courts-martial for alleged roles in murder plot Two junior-ranking soldiers will face courts-martial for their role in an alleged conspiracy to murder four Iraqi detainees in April 2007, the 7th U.S. Army Joint Multinational Training Command announced late Friday. Charges of conspiracy to commit premeditated murder against Spc. Belmor Ramos, 23, and Spc. Steven Ribordy, 25, were referred to general courts-martial on Monday by Brig. Gen. David R. Hogg, JMTC commander. Both soldiers were members of 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment at the time of the incident. The unit has...

Good collection of links on the disaster that was yesterday's 5-4 decision conferring constitutional rights on our sworn enemies in the middle of a war.

<p>"What does this prove? Nothing really, but I'm sure partisans in the debate over Guantanamo and the treatment and detention of alleged [sic] enemy combatants will see this as evidence that confirms their respective points of view. On the one hand, Abdullah Saleh al-Ajmi may have been a dangerous enemy combatant all along, and should never have been released. On the other hand, he may have been wrongfully detained in the first place, only to become radicalized by his (mis)treatment by the U.S. military. In other words, we either had a terrorist and let him go, or we created one. If Adler is right, though, he has focused on a trivial difference between the two sides of the debate while ignoring both an important point of agreement and the truly crucial area of contention.</p>