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Wednesday, July 13, 2005

If Simmons says the prisoners are treated well, then it must be true

The detainees are treated well by Gitmo. Yeah, and Karl Rove didn't leak a CIA operative's name.

Rob Simmons just came back form a visit at Guantanamo Bay and based on his observation, he claims that the detainees are treated well.

Hmmm, this might seem like a silly question but if the prisoners were being abused, do you think they would show that to a Congressman?

From the Hartford Courant:
Detainees at Guantanamo Bay are treated well, the food is good and the medical care seems decent, Rep. Rob Simmons, R-2nd District, said Tuesday. He and nine other members of Congress took a half-day trip Monday to the Cuban military prison to see for themselves if harsh criticism leveled at the base was justified.

[...]

He said the military personnel he talked with at Guantanamo were "highly professional," and that the courtroom there and the room where detainees are questioned were air-conditioned.

"It did not fit the description I had heard about," Simmons said.

[...]

Simmons acknowledged that the visit was very brief and said he would be glad to return.
Well, before he visits lovely Gitmo again, maybe Simmons should read the report from FBI agents who spent move than a half a day there and ACTUALLY witnessed the abuse.

Detainees at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, were shackled to the floor in fetal positions for more than 24 hours at a time, left without food and water, and allowed to defecate on themselves, an FBI agent who said he witnessed such abuse reported in a memo to supervisors, according to documents released yesterday.

In memos over a two-year period that ended in August, FBI agents and officials also said that they witnessed the use of growling dogs at Guantanamo Bay to intimidate detainees -- contrary to previous statements by senior Defense Department officials -- and that one detainee was wrapped in an Israeli flag and bombarded with loud music in an apparent attempt to soften his resistance to interrogation.

In addition, several agents contended that military interrogators impersonated FBI agents, suggesting that the ruse was aimed in part at avoiding blame for any subsequent public allegations of abuse, according to memos between FBI officials.