Guantanamo

Afghanistan, Guantanamo, War on Terror

Pakistan frees former Guantánamo prisoner, Afghan Taliban commander

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Bill Roggio at the Long War Journal reports:

Abdulrahim Muslim Dost, a former prisoner at the US military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, was exchanged for Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan.

As the Pakistani government nears the completion of a peace deal with Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud, details have emerged on the prisoner swaps between the government and the Taliban. The government has freed a Taliban commander in Afghanistan and a former inmate at Guantanamo Bay along with scores of Taliban fighters in exchange for Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan and captive Pakistani soldiers. The government also paid several hundreds of thousands of dollars in ransom to the Taliban.

The government has released 55 Taliban operatives, including Mufti Yousuf and Muslim Dost, the Asia Times reported. In exchange, the Taliban released Tariq Azizuddin, Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan, along with “dozens” of Pakistani soldiers and paramilitaries captured during battles since last summer. Azizuddin, along with his bodyguard and driver, was kidnapped by the Taliban on Feb. 11 as he headed to Kabul through the Khyber Pass.

Among those released were Mufti Yousuf, a Taliban leader in Afghanistan, and Abdulrahim Muslim Dost, a former prisoner at the US military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Abdulrahim Muslim Dost was arrested along with his brother by Pakistani intelligence in November 2001 for links to al Qaeda. Dost is an Afghan national, a journalist, and a poet. He was a member of al Qaeda ally Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s Hizb-e Islami and worked for three pro-Taliban publications.

If Dost was innocent, as his America defense lawyers and other terrorist sympathizers asserted, then why did the Taliban negotiate for his release?

Abdulrahim Muslim Dost (click to enlarge)

Perhaps the Taliban like his poetry or pretty face.

Guantanamo, Support our troops

Abuses at Guantanamo confirmed by Deputy Commander

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After years of unconfirmed allegations by Guantanamo detainees and their defense lawyers of abuse, one senior military officer finally had the courage to publicly speak out. On May 4, 2008, Brigadier General Gregory Zanetti, the deputy commander of the Joint Task Force-GTMO, wrote in LJWorld.com, “What follows is a typical morning report at the BUB. Real names and real detainee numbers are not used. The term “rec” is short for recreation.”

“Good morning sir, Chief Simmons Camp 6. We have 112 assigned, 112 present. Last night detainee 765 requested onions and parsley on his salad and requested to see the camp commander regarding his request. 844 wants a better detainee newsletter and 632 has requested a Bowflex machine because he says he is not getting enough of an upper body work out.

“We had 3 significant activities last night: 601 balled up feces and threw it at the guard hitting him in the chest saying next time he would hit him in the mouth. Next, as 155 was being taken to rec, he bit a guard on the arm until it bled. Detainee was not allowed rec and had comfort items removed. When asked why he did it, 155 just laughed. The guard was sent to medical where he is being evaluated. Finally, 767 yelled at female guard saying, ‘I am going to rape you. I am going to rape you. And when I get out of here I am going to kill you and your family.’ Sir, barring any questions, that concludes my report.”

Many may believe the above BUB report is exaggerated or hyperbole. It is not. It could have just as easily been a detainee demanding a lighter gray shirt because the dark gray shirt “hurts his gall bladder.” Or a detainee smearing feces on the walls of his cell. The guards refer to these detainees as “painters” or “poo-cassos.”

What occurs daily inside the wire is a bizarre mixture of the dangerous, the disgusting, and the absurd. And, despite urban legends and misperceptions, any mistreatment or abuse that goes on inside the camps is that of detainee-on-guard, not the reverse.

This morning, when word of these abuses reached Washington, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and the American Civil Liberties Union conducted a hastily arranged, joint press conference in support of America’s troop stationed at Guantanamo. Click here to listen to the audio.

Hat tip to Black Five.