Monday, June 12, 2006

More Guantánamo Newspeak...

Yesterday we reported on the suicides at Guantánamo, Cuba. We pointed out the use of Orwellian style Newspeak to confuse the public into believing that an act of desperation was actually an act of asymmetrical warfare.

Continuing that theme, The New York Times examines unspeakable aspects of American justice as applied at Guantánamo:

"[Guantánamo] is a place where secret tribunals sat in judgment of men whose identities they barely knew and who were not permitted to see the evidence against them. Inmates were abused, humiliated, tormented and sometimes tortured. Some surely are very dangerous men, committed to a life of terrorism and deserving of harsh justice. But only 10 of the roughly 465 men at the camp have been charged with crimes. The others, according to senior officers who served there, were foot soldiers of the Taliban or men who just happened to live in a country invaded by the United States after the 9/11 attacks."

Read: The Deaths at Gitmo

In Prisoners' Ruse Is Suspected at Guantánamo , The New York Times details the suicides. Most intriguing is the continued Newspeak. For example, one official described the suicides as “an attempt to influence the judicial proceedings in that perspective." This is a far stretch.

Read: Prisoners' Ruse Is Suspected at Guantánamo

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