A LOT of my information comes from Counterpunch.org. It is one of the best sources for political and social information that I know of. Almost all the contributors really deeply know what they write about, and there is a broad diversity of perspective, though almost all progressive.

I am trying to figure out what people are thinking: the Administration, Congress, the media and the American public that is aware of this. It has been clear for a number of years that many “detainees” at Guantanamo are innocent of any crime, and that the vast majority cannot be proven to have done anything wrong, even if they are “bad guys”.

I assume the Administration will not do anything because they won’t admit that they really screwed this up, and they don’t want their wacko right wing base to go ballistic about releasing these terrorists. But why doesn’t Congress act? For the same reason? Can’t be soft on terrorism? And the media? What is their excuse? These are innocent people in a prison camp. Innocent people.

If one American is picked up and put in jail when there is NO evidence against them, there would be howls of indignation and calls for American retaliation against the barbaric country that subverts the rule of law for political purposes. That person almost always gets released. The cases I know of where that hasn’t happened, like Lori Berenson in Peru, actually had contact with Shining Path members, though there is no real proof she aided them. Does anyone know of any other case?

If we do NOT do anything to undo this travesty, the precedent for incremental abuse is going to be hard to resist. It is already happening with the detention of illegal aliens, and there is not attention to that situation either.

Hi Andy,
Love your work on Guantánamo, and I’m looking forward to reading your book.
Here is an article of mine that is coming out any day now in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (and quotes you and mentions your book). Hope you like it. I plan to get it onto SSRN very soon so that it may be downloaded.

This was a few weeks ago, and I was unavoidably distracted (holiday, and then work), but when I got back to Brian today, he let me know that his excellent and detailed article, “Guantánamo and Beyond: Danger of Rigging the Rules,” was now available online:
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1124626

Thanks very much for your comments, Brian, and for making your article available.

Dear Andy,

Some quick and positive feedback. “Bravo and well done”. Not just for your latest article in CounterPunch (The Ordeal of Moroccan Prisoner …) but the very many articles of yours I have read. I for one read all your articles that I see and circulate them to friends around the world.

Your documentation of the abuses, absurdities, lack of due process, maltreatment and injustice there does you great credit. I think your work will stand as research material for future students examining this sordid chapter of US history.

Writing about Guantánamo in the current climate generated by the Bush regime is, in my mind, also a demonstration of your courage and values that are to be admired and respected.

The information you reveal is important and I have faith that it will contribute to the restoration of values we’ve lost after the hysteria, heavy-handed fear mongering and loss of perspective following the 11th of September incident (my first guess was that that was carried out by a Chilean group in reprisal for the 11/9/1973 but I was clearly wrong).

Now if only the same could be done for Diego Garcia, Camp Cropper, Bagram, etc.

And I will be buying your book very soon.

Again — well done and thank you.

Chris Houtman
Australia

It also reminds me of the situation of Cuban exiles who were convicted of crimes, served their time, but cannot return to Cuba and so spend their time in “work camps” throughout the US, esp. Florida, playing cards and doing nothing in particular, in virtual no-man’s land. They also cannot be assimilated into the U.S., some of them lacking the papers, money, or other essentials to gaining residency, a process becoming even more formidable as anti-alien sentiment grows.