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From: Walter Lippmann Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2002 7:05 AM Subject: Thoughts about "Talibanishment" Thoughts about "Talibanishment" by Walter Lippmann Here are a few more articles from today's
media
about the prisons which Washington has built for its Taliban captives. As the articles make very clear, the reasons for moving them thousands of miles from their native land is completely and utterly POLITICAL. Though these soldiers whose army was defeated have yet to be charged with criminal offenses, Washington wants to be certain that whatever happens in whatever trials are cooked up for them that there will be no appeals made for the verdicts delivered in these trials. In other words, the conditions and "rights"' to be accorded to these prisoners gives one a good sense of the kinds of prison conditions Washington wishes it could have in the center of what it refers to as the "free world." No neighbors who might speak the same language or share a common culture with the prisoners. No pesky calls to lawyers or family visits like the Miami Five had, and new reasons to try to justify continuing to spy on Cuba at a time when Cuba is no threat to the United States or anyone else. ======================================== Published Thursday, January 10, 2002 in the Miami Herald GUANTANAMO READY FOR TALIBAN `We have no intention of making it comfortable' BY CAROL ROSENBERG [EMAIL PROTECTED] GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba -- When al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners arrive this week from Afghanistan, they'll hardly be trading
their cave life for the creature comforts of the
Caribbean.
Rather, this is what the Military Police have in store for them until they build a permanent prison
facility:
Six-by-eight-foot cells made of chain-linked fencing that resemble open-air cages. Concrete slab floors
with mats for beds and wooden roofs to keep out the
rain. Guard dogs and Military Police -- both men
and
women -- monitoring the every move of members of
a movement that once
hid their women from public
view. Halogen lights
by night, no running water but a
container for a
toilet, a ``culturally neutral diet'' without
meat -- all out of
view of the sparkling waters that feed
the Straits of
Florida.
And, just in case the al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners have visions of staging an uprising
inside
the compound called
Camp X-Ray, Marines will
patrol beyond several fences -- armed to the teeth
in the high grass
beyond razor-sharp, concertina wire,
beneath a brand-new American flag that was flapping
in the breeze Wednesday.
``It will be humane. But we have no intention
of making
it comfortable,'' declared Marine Brig.
Gen. Michael R.
Lehnert, commander of the prison
project who arrived
over the weekend from Camp
Lejeune, N.C.
``I wouldn't call it a dog kennel. I call it a cell . . . an outdoor cell,'' added Col. Terry
Carrico,
commander of the MP contingent out of Fort Hood,
Texas, who is in effect the prison camp
warden.
Lehnert and Carrico spoke Wednesday as the Southern Command let U.S. media inspect the
facility for the first time. It is still under
construction.
The base receives its first detainees, fewer than
two
dozen, ``by the end of the week,'' according to
Bob
Nelson, civilian spokesman for the prison
project.
Lehnert, meanwhile, declared his prison camp prepared to
accommodate 100 ``al Qaeda, Taliban
and other terrorist
personnel that have come under
U.S. control as
a result of the ongoing global war
on terrorism.''
The chain-link-style cages are upgraded detention cells that were built during the 1994-95 balsero
crisis
that saw some 50,000 people housed here. The cells
were used for holding Haitian and Cuban migrants
who
were accused of crimes, got into fights or broke
camp
rules. Lehnert likewise ran security for that
operation,
but said the mission was much
different.
`STRICTEST SECURITY' ``Our job is to take these terrorists out of the fight by locking them up,'' he said. ``We will
treat
them humanely in accordance with
international
law -- under strictest security for as long as
necessary.''
The assignment issued by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld two weeks ago has begun
transforming this once-sleepy base known as
``Gitmo'' into the Alcatraz of the
Caribbean.
It is rimmed on one side by land -- nearly all of it mined by the Cubans where Marines face off night
and day along 17
miles of fence-line with Fidel
Castro's Frontier
Brigade. On the other side is the
sea, with shark-invested waters,U.S.-patrol vessels
and the Florida Straits.
REMOTE, ISOLATED ``It is remote and isolated. It does make it convenient,'' said base commander Navy Capt. Robert Buehn Jr. He said the prison project could nearly double the
base population,
which had dwindled from 8,000 military
and civilians a
decade ago to 2,700 before the newest
assignment.
Like everyone else associated with it, the skipper cited security reasons to decline to describe how
the prisoners would be transported -- specifically
when they would arrive or their exact
identities.
But there are only two ways they could arrive -- by a
``Con-Air''-style flight onto the lone
working landing strip or by military vessel into
the port. These are features that no doubt led
Rumsfeld to declare it ``the least worst'' option
to planners seeking a detention center outside
of Afghanistan.
Moreover, Lehnert said there had been no formal protest from Cuba over the plan -- and used the
media opportunity Wednesday to send a
clear
message to the Castro
government.
``This force here that we brought does not pose any threat whatsoever to Cuba, the government
of Cuba or the people of Cuba,'' he said, reading
from carefully crafted language to reply to a
reporter's question.
This base, sprawling across 45 square miles on Cuba's southeastern tip, has for years been
a sore spot between the United States and the
Castro regime, which declared null and void a
series of earlier leases and agreements dating
back to Teddy Roosevelt's time. Castro has
consistently called the U.S. presence here
an
illegal occupation, and refused to cash the
checks the United
States cut annually to make
good on a lease agreement.
100 PRISONERS Cuban concerns aside, the command staff at Guantanamo is pursuing a three-stage blueprint
for detention of of the new prisoners. Wednesday,
the first stage was complete: the cage-like cells
that could accommodate up to 100
prisoners,
according to the general, with short-term plans to expand the compound to 220 cells.
It is on a remote section of the U.S.-controlled territory, less than a half-mile from
suburban-style
family housing for base officers along Nob Hill
Road.
Soon, a Navy engineering unit of Seabees will start construction on a more permanent, walled facility on a section of Gitmo called Radar Range. Working with
civilian contractors, they will complete 400 to 500
indoor cells for the prisoners within 60 days,
Lehnert
said.
Then later, the Joint Task Force will add more buildings to
accommodate up to 2,000 high-security
prisoners -- an inexplicably large number,
considering
that by Wednesday reports from the region showed
only 364 Afghan, Taliban and al Qaeda prisoners held
by U.S. forces.
======================= Published Thursday, January 10, 2002 letter to the Miami Herald Cuba's double talk Re Sens. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I.,
visiting Cuba: In a personal meeting
with Fidel Castro
they were assured that Cuba will
not interfere with
U.S. plans to use the Guantanamo
base to jail Taliban
and al Qaeda prisoners and that
Cuba condemns terrorism. This doesn't surprise me
or any Cuban exile.No wonder Castro has been in
power for 43 years. I was more surprised to see
these
senators on TV, smiling as if really believing they
had
accomplished a big deal for their country. First,
Castro
well knows that there is nothing he can do
concerning
Guantanamo.
Moreover, coming from a terrorist, a condemnation of terrorism is so ridiculous that it makes me
wonder
how naive or
ignorant these senators are of Castro's
real intention to
keep supporting terrorism, especially
in Latin America.
Before visiting Cuba, senators
should be better
informed.
CARLOS G. ORDOŃEZ Miami ============================ Guantanamo city, naval base prepare for arrival of
prisoners
By Iván Román San Juan Bureau January 9, 2002 GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL STATION, CUBA -- The first
wave of prisoners in the U.S. war on
terrorism - hardened
al-Qaida and Taliban fighters
who would gladly die
to kill Americans - are
expected to
arrive as early as Friday at this remote
Navy base in the
Caribbean.
Heavily armed U.S. Marines took turns Wednesday pacing the perimeter of the temporary detention
camp that initially
will hold about 100 of the 346
fighters captured
8,000 miles away in Afghanistan.
Inside the fence topped with razor wire, unarmed military police and their guard dogs patrolled in
front of the
makeshift chain-link cells that will hold
the detainees.
Others practiced how to restrain the
enemy fighters when they
arrive.
"We have no intention of making it comfortable," said Brig. Gen. Michael Lehnert, in charge of the
prison and security project. "We will treat them
humanely in accordance with international law.
They'll be held here under strictest security for
as
long as necessary."
Lehnert had no information on whether the first prisoners to arrive will include prominent Taliban
or al-Qaida leaders
now held at a base in Kandahar
or American Taliban JohnWalker
Lindh.
However, Joint Task Force spokesman Robert Nelson said the
military first would bring in "the
worst of the worst" to get them out of Central
Asia.
Military officials said they expect about 400 more prisoners in two months, once the first phase
of
the permanent
camp is completed.
Eventually, the United States will finish a permanent maximum-security prison for 2,000 people on the island. For the time
being, though, Army and Marine
guards are ready to
receive the first group of prisoners
at this temporary prison, known as Camp
X-Ray.
The 6-foot by 8-foot cells with chain-link fence on all sides will have little more than a mat on the floor. Wooden roofs on the cells will shield prisoners
from
rain. If a breeze blows, though, they could get
wet.
The prisoners will not be allowed to socialize or
eat
together.
"I wouldn't call it a dog kennel," said Col. Terry Carrico, head of the military police
operations,
when pressed
for a description. "I'd call it an
outdoor cell."
The chain-link walls are high enough to allow armed guards
clear visibility from the surrounding
watchtowers. Intense halogen lighting will shine
throughout the night.
The al-Qaida and Afghan fighters, classified as "battlefield detainees," have not been charged
with crimes and have
limited rights under the
Geneva as prisoners
of war, although the United
States does not consider them as such.
They are supposed to be fed, protected from abuse and
must be allowed to practice their
religion. They
also must have access to non
governmental organizations. The International
Red Cross will be present as soon as they
arrive.
However, they are not allowed to have lawyers present during interrogations.
Several U.S. installations, including the base at Guantanamo Bay, are still being considered
as possible staging areas for the controversial
military tribunals.
Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld called Guantanamo Bay "the least worst place" to build
the prison for terrorists, a task for which the
base
seems naturally and politically
well-suited.
The United States' oldest overseas military installation housed 34,000 Haitians fleeing
a coup in 1991
and another 45,000 Cuban
and Haitians during
the rafter crisis of 1994-95.
Since Sunday, 660 troops have descended on the base, nearly doubling the
number of
soldiers on
active duty there.
Also, the airport
is running 'round-the-clock to handle the materials
and hundreds of technicians, interpreters, medics,
troops and construction brigades yet to arrive. Two
parallel 17.4-mile-long fences - one Cuban and the
other U.S., with minefields in between - separate
the base from the rest of Cuba.
The 2?1/2-mile-wide bay, tough brush, salt flats and mangrove
swamps make escape nearly
impossible.
"There is no front gate here. You can't drive here," said Capt.
Robert Buehn, commander
of the Guantanamo Bay Naval Station.
"You
have to come by ship or by air.
It's remote
and isolated and
that plays in its favor."
Buehn said the operation could double the base's 2,700
population, bringing more crowds
to the Navy Exchange, outdoor movie
theaters
and the only
McDonald's in Cuba. The military
families were
a l ittle concerned at first about
having hardened terrorists in their midst, Buehn
said, but were reassured by the security measures
and are happy to be
involved.
Officials remain vague about security measures. However,they are more than aware, and make
sure their
troops
are as well, that
some of the
prisoners about to
arrive would happily die in their
jihad against Americans. A prison uprising Nov.
25 in Mazar-e Sharif led to the death of CIA officer
Johnny Spann, the first American killed by the
enemy in Afghanistan.
But the troops also must struggle with their own emotions as they
prepare to deal with
people linked to the
World Trade Center and
Pentagon attacks that killed thousands
and
who advocate the destruction of American
society.
Those in the rank and file know they have a tough task. Staff Sgt. Scott Bolman, a corrections specialist with the U.S. Marines, said his training was as
much about
how to diminish resistance from prisoners as how to
keep
your own emotions in check.
"It will be a challenge for the younger soldiers who don't have the correctional experiences," said Bolman, 27, brought in to train the Army military police. "It
is difficult
and it takes a lot of control, and that's what
we're here to
do - to make sure they keep that control." Iván Román can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or 787 729-9071.
Copyright © 2002, South Florida Sun-Sentinel ================================== January 10, 2002 Reasons the U.S. Chose Guantanamo By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 3:19 a.m. ET WASHINGTON (AP) -- The United States is preparing to transfer more than 300 prisoners in the Afghan war 8,000 miles to its Naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It is tripling its forces there, to more than 2,000, and is reinforcing prison facilities at the place Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has called ``the least worst'' choice for a prison camp. Here, in question and answer form, is a look at Guantanamo. Q: Why transfer South Asians to the Caribbean? A: Military officials explain that it is one of the most secure bases overseas, lowering the prospects for escape -- or for a break-in by sympathizers. It's surrounded on three sides by the sea, and the fourth side, guarded by Marines, fronts a cactus wall Cuban leader Fidel Castro built in the 1960s to stymie Cubans seeking refuge. Beyond the cacti is unfriendly scrubland. It's also got plenty of hardware. Recently declassified Pentagon documents suggest that the base has stored nuclear weapons -- probably submarine-seeking depth charges -- since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. Q: Wouldn't a high-security prison in the United States be just as safe? A: Probably safer, but that would rob the Bush administration of an aim should it try some of the prisoners in military tribunals: denying them the chance of appeal. In 1950, the Supreme Court ruled unequivocally that nonresident enemy aliens have ``no access to our courts in wartime.'' The Supreme Court reserves the right to hear an appeal of any verdict handed down on U.S. soil, and has reviewed military tribunals in the past. Q: Is there enough space to hold them? A: Plenty. Guantanamo's 45 square miles on Cuba's southeastern coast currently house only 2,700 residents -- three-quarters of them civilians -- and 1,500 troop reinforcements are on the way to help guard the prisoners. In the mid-1990s, it housed tens of thousands of Cuban and Haitian refugees. Prison facilities for about 100 inmates exist from that time and troops are expanding those barracks. Q: What are U.S. forces doing on Cuban territory? A: U.S. Marines set up base at Guantanamo on June 6, 1898, at the outset of the Spanish-American War. In 1903, the newly established Cuban Republic acceded to U.S. demands to lease Guantanamo -- it had little choice, considering it had won independence from Spain largely through U.S. might. The rent was and remains 2,000 gold coins a year, now valued at $4,085. In its act establishing the lease, Congress cited two goals: protecting Cubans from Spain, and providing defense for the United States. Throughout the subsequent decades, U.S. forces stationed at the base helped prop up regimes threatened by uprisings, and the base served as a refuge for leaders in flight more than once. Such actions increased U.S. leverage, and in 1934, the lease was renegotiated to allow the land to revert to Cuban control only if abandoned or by mutual consent. Q: Does Cuba abide by the lease? A: It has little choice. Castro says the base is an affront to Cuban sovereignty -- he refuses to cash the United States' annually delivered check. In the 1970s, he used its existence to justify the large Soviet troop presence on his island -- but the law and balance of power are on the side of the United States. The Cuban foreign ministry acknowledges that Cuba has no jurisdiction over the base. There are regular two-hour flights between Jacksonville, Fla., and Guantanamo, but no regular travel between Guantanamo and Castro's Cuba. Q: Using Guantanamo as a prison camp for U.S. captives must infuriate Castro, right? A: Not really. The Cubans have officially expressed ``no opinion'' about U.S. plans, and two U.S. senators who met with him last week said he told them he does not plan to raise any objections. Castro does not want to appear pro-terrorist. He's also eager to ease U.S. restrictions on trade and cooperation with Cuba. Q: What purpose does it serve the United States to maintain a base in Cuba? A: Plenty, besides being the most convenient position from which to spy on one of its last Cold War foes. Guantanamo's natural harbor is a perfect refueling-retooling stop for U.S. ships patrolling the Caribbean. Its presence deterred Nazi submarines from Caribbean waters during World War II, and it was a natural stop for the region's refugees in the 1980s and 1990s. It's also been a base for anti-drug smuggling operations since the 1980s. ------ On the Net: U.S. Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba: http://www.nsgtmo.navy.mil ========================================================================= To subscribe from this CubaNews group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://TOPICA.COM/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================ |
