Wikileaks Releases Intelligence Gathered From Guantanamo Bay Prisoners

by toma

If you’ve ever wondered what the U.S. has gotten in return for the public relations disaster that is Guantanamo Bay prison, this latest Wikileaks document dump will be worth your time.

A trove of more than 700 classified military documents provides new and detailed accounts of the men who have done time at the Guantánamo Bay prison in Cuba, and offers new insight into the evidence against the 172 men still locked up there.

The Washington Post used the documents to provide an overview of the activities of top Al Qaeda members in Karachi, Pakistan, on September 11, 2001:

At a hospital, the accused mastermind of the bombing of the USS Cole was recovering from a tonsillectomy. Nearby, the alleged organizer of the 2002 bombing in Bali, Indonesia, was buying lab equipment for a biological weapons program. And in a safe house, the man who would later describe himself as the intellectual author of the Sept. 11 attacks was with other key al-Qaeda members watching the scenes from New York and Washington unfold on television.

In the cases of some specific detainees, the documents’ descriptions of their probable illegal treatment for the purpose of intelligence gathering will reinforce Americans’ conflicted assessments of Guantanamo’s worth.

The 20th hijacker: The best-documented case of an abusive interrogation at Guantánamo was the coercive questioning, in late 2002 and early 2003, of Mohammed Qahtani. A Saudi believed to have been an intended participant in the Sept. 11 attacks, Mr. Qahtani was leashed like a dog, sexually humiliated and forced to urinate on himself. His file says, “Although publicly released records allege detainee was subject to harsh interrogation techniques in the early stages of detention,” his confessions “appear to be true and are corroborated in reporting from other sources.” But claims that he is said to have made about at least 16 other prisoners — mostly in April and May 2003 — are cited in their files without any caveat.

Candidate Barack Obama once promised to close the notorious prison. President Barack Obama has thus far refused.

By: toma

Foul-mouthed blogger.