Guantanamo (Joshua Nistas/US Army)
President Barack Obama’s address yesterday on U.S. terror strategies got a lot of attention for supposedly charting a new course in America’s longest war. But some of the facts were mangled along the way.
On CBS Evening News (5/23/13), reporter Major Garrett stated that
Obama urged Congress to close the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. To that end, he will seek permission to send 86 of the 166 jailed terror suspects already cleared for release to other countries.
Those 86 prisoners have not been, and will not be, charged with any crime whatsoever; they are not “terror suspects.” Garrett’s statement was all the more awkward considering that it came right before CBS played a clip of Obama saying this:
Imagine a future, 10 years from now, or 20 years from now–when the United States of America is still holding people who have been charged with no crime on a piece of land that is not a part of our country.
To refer to “people who have been charged with no crime” as “terror suspects” is simply Orwellian. Garrett went on to say:
An intelligence report in January, Scott, found that fewer than 5 percent of those detainees released since 2009 have rejoined the fight.
That is indeed the language used in the government’s accounting of former Guantanamo detainees–and the definition of “re-enagaging” has been narrowed considerably since the Bush years. Reporters have taken some of this Pentagon propaganda on this issue at face value in the past, which should be all the more reason to continue to be skeptical. If someone has been imprisoned without charge or trial for a number of years, can one plausibly claim that they have “returned” to committing crimes that they were never charged with in the first place?
It’s not just CBS. In the New York Times (5/24/13), Peter Baker writes:
Mr. Obama said he was lifting a moratorium he imposed on sending detainees to Yemen, where a new president has inspired more faith in the White House that he would not allow recidivism.
Again, these are prisoners cleared for release because they cannot be charged with any crimes. It is bizarre to seriously discuss the threat that they might go back to committing crimes there’s no apparent evidence that they’ve ever taken part in.
You’d think the corpress might know something about “recidivism”, wouldn’t you?
They engage and “re-engage” in skewed and outright false reportage daily
And that percentage of their output is far more that five percent, isn’t it?
The corporate press, if you will excuse a term for it that makes sense, has utterly failed to grasp the significance of America’s political debauchery since Cheney, wouldn’t you say?
It has not failed to grasp the significance. It has simply decided that it will do it, what ever it takes to maintain control. After all how can these people “stop terror”, if they didn’t start it in the first place; not unlike the Pyro setting a building on fire to watch it burn.
We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it
BILLY JOEL – WE DIDN’T START THE FIRE LYRICS
Pres. Obama is a right winger, a Plutocrat, and a Machiavellian. He is certainly more adept, if not adroit in manipulation of his “base” of fooled Liberals who find no other straw to grasp so they stay with him and try to explain away all the totalitarian and murderous things he does. The people he gets to work for him etc.
Alas the Plutocrats behind this are brilliant and patient. They would never have gotten this far if they were anxious for the next quarterly report. It is paying dividens to them. We are trapped between the extremists who continue on till they meet Atilla the Hun while the Democrats still sound reasonable but only next to the far out Republicans now. Not good prospects.
Thank you, so-called Liberal Media!
You’re so right, Night-Gaunt. All the President has to do when his “base” is getting a bit riled up is to make a speech like this one and all the Democrats fall back into line. I like how he puts himself seemingly outside of his own Administration, his own deeds, his own beliefs–nothing that he does is actually his fault, it’s just something that’s happening (Gitmo’s innocent detainees) and he can’t help it. What’s a man to do?
I find myself in agreement with night gaunt and Tim…. sort off.I think this is all Politics.Gitmo I understood directly after the war.A clearing house for this new brand of extremist nut bags.A place like the Arizona prisoner of war camps for German POWs during WW2(Many of which fell in love with the area and came back to live).Close to our shores.But almost immediately things went wrong.Other than containing them, what were we doing?Most troubling was the secrecy.What goes on there in our name?Bush was not transparent.Obama no more so.Are they being re-educated or simply caged?What law of detention is being followed?Anytime a government of the people and for the people runs an operation that cannot be witnessed BY the people….you will have trouble.Im not saying these detainees are angels.I am saying that we have thousands…tens of thousands……maybe millions as bat shit crazy as some of this ilk “over there”.Gitmo is simply not the answer.And I don’t trust government….especially this dim witted bunch with having an open hand.Close the bloody thing with the help of the UN or some other world oversight(Swiss….Red cross)?If they hit us again,kill them like dogs of course.We screwed this pooch long ago.Just as the Brits did who jailed IRA members with zero legal action for years.We must live by the law(some law…any law) even if those we fight do not.
The president has had several years to address this situation and it is nice that he is contemplating moderate action that could have been taken any time. It is despicable that the press is trying as hard as possible to distort the situation so that the public has to fight against the media to understand what is going on…
Tishado I read what you wrote about 5x.Still I have no idea what you mean.It is nice the president has been so slow to act on one of the key promises of his first campaign?Well um…ok I guess.Wish he had done the same with health care ,and just about every idea that has ever crossed through his head.And you are blaming the press for finally …finally putting his toes to the fire?
Israel has America locked into perpetual war with Israel’s enemies, enemies Israel has worked very hard to recruit by 66 years of oppressing, bullying, intimidating, bombing, shelling, assassinating, embargoing, and all manner of international criminal activity that produced 214 United Nations’ Security Council resolutions. Israel grants no rights to those under occupation. Demand America stop enabling this pariah state with arms, money, and UN vetoes until it achieves a two-state solution. UN Resolution was passed in 1967; it’s time Israel honored its conditions. Boycott Israel until a two-state settlement comes to fruition.
Frank your being ridiculous.Israel is a bland excuse for Islam to conduct war war on the world.Radical muslim problems stretch across the world.So what could the problem be in Russia…France….Oh I have it…Israel!So we should boycott those who wept with us on 911 in favor of those who threw a party?Pass
@m.e.: What Tishado is using is called “sarcasm.” What you don’t get is that folks who believe in democracy are going to call out leaders if they do bad things, no matter if they are ostensibly on that leader’s “team” (from your point of view, anyway) most of the time. I personally think the President is, very often, screwing up. Most of his screw ups come because he is essentially on the same page as the ‘cons and their avatars, the Corporate world and their shills. The President himself has openly said that he’s a Republican–he certainly acts like one, and never misses a chance to bend over backwards for them–witness his colossal cave on S.S. (he’s giving the ‘cons the cut they want, in the chained CPI)–just one example.
No one “threw a party” to celebrate 911–that’s a goddamn lie that’s been out there for while.
Tim I agree with some of what you wrote.But the president is not doing anything because of his support for corporations….except where it specifically helps him.His every action is now crumbling into disaster(Obama care)His transparent government a sham of massive illegalities.tonight we find they tapped our phones.This is getting endless Tim.As for 911 …..Many Arab areas celebrated.The palestinian went on through their night.It simply cant be re written that they did not.My God it was on CNN.