Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has referred to Guantanamo prisoners as "the worst of the worst". Yet we continue to see a trickle of these "worst" characters being released upon discovery that they have no ties to terrorism.
The most recent case that I'm aware of involves Bisher al-Rawi, an Iraqi with residency rights in Britain. According to an article by Agence France Presse, "[h]is mother, who has campaigned for his release, claims he was there to help his older brother Wahab set up a peanut oil processing business."
I've heard many similar stories of innocent men and boys who have been detained because of mistaken identities, translation errors, or the lies of greedy bounty hunters.
And then these innocent people are forced to live in deplorable conditions and endure inhumane treatment and sometimes torture, all in the name of national security.
Furthermore, another article by Agence France Presse quotes Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, as stating that military officers had told him that the interrogations at Gitmo had revealed "virtually nothing" of useful intelligence. Think about that.
One can only guess how many other innocent people remain at Guantanamo who have not had the lucky opportunity to prove their innocence.
The ironic thing is that, in fact, none of us will be secure as long as this kind of thing is allowed to continue.
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