Friday, March 12, 2004
Capturing the Truth
I recently read today's provocative "My Hell in Camp X-Ray" article published in the popular British magazine "The Mirror." It's the firsthand account of a British detainee recently released from Guantanamo Bay, whose story has been picked up by all the major news organizations. I read it a second time, in its entirety, and then a third. Ultimately, although my libertarian side is generally distrustful of government power, and although I continue to express serious concern about some of the legal issues surrounding Guantanamo procedures, I just can't accept this man's story as valid. Read it for yourself, be horrified, but then stop and think about the logistics of what he's alleging.
Al-Harith describes brutal physical and psychological torture on a mass scale. Frequent beatings. Unnecessary amputations. Mind games. The forced viewing of masturbating prostitutes, including women who smeared menstrual blood across inmates' faces. Black drinking water, and food expired more than ten years. The list goes on.
Shocking and outrageous if true, clearly. But think about your friends and family serving in the military. Don't you think one of them might have raised an objection, or gone public if these things were happening? Or what about others released from Guantanamo? Don't you think a few of them might have corroborated some of these allegations?
I'm reminded of the recent, brilliant documentary "Capturing the Friedmans," covering a father and son charged and convicted of hundreds of counts of sexual abuse -- which, when described in detail, fall apart under the impossibility of the stories. Parents would allegedly drop their children off for a computer class, and the father and son instructors would, among other equally shocking activities, play "leapfrog" by anally raping each student in a big circle in the center of the room. Yet no student (among over 100 total) ever complained, and parents never noticed anything wrong when they arrived an hour later to pick them up. The students even signed up for next year's courses.
The sheer volume of these claims, of repeated, public rape, should have made the case collapse under its own weight. It's not a matter of whether such evil people could exist, but rather a matter of the logistical impossibility (or at least extreme improbability) of the charges. And while the film itself tried to be as evenhanded as possible, allowing the viewer to come to the obvious conclusion that, at the very least, the allegations must have been exaggerated, the newly released DVD presents nearly all the collected evidence, making it impossible for any rational person to allow for the possibility of the men's guilt. Indeed, this research is helping Jesse (the son) vacate his conviction after serving 13 years for a crime he didn't commit. He even has the backing of the former students who continue to insist nothing ever happened, including the few who at the time were bribed, coerced or threatened into originally "admitting" they had been abused.
And so, back to Guantanamo, you have to think of the big picture -- in today's world, the military couldn't keep these kinds of abuses covered up on such a large scale. The International Red Cross (ICRC) has met with the prisoners and continues to make regular visits. According to the ICRC, the staff "speak to the internees in private, without supervision by the authorities." They have called most of the allegations made in the past (none of which rise to the level of the recent ones) "distortions." It would seem unlikely that, of all people, the very U.S.-critical ICRC would be complicit in such a massive cover-up.
Even the BBC's own reporting, which was designed to shock with the human rights abuse angle, directly conflicts with many of Al-Harith's claims, particularly with regards to disallowing showers, water, and prayer. Even the CBS investigation, again if anything trying to slant the story against Guantanamo policy, finds nothing even approaching the recent Mirror article.
In other words, either Al-Harith is lying, or everyone else, every military person serving there, every Muslim chaplain, every Red Cross volunteer, every foreign and domestic reporter, every single one of them is lying. This becomes an issue not of believability, but logic.
Judging by the pack mentality of the online anti-Bush/anti-America crowds since the story was released, Al-Harith's accusations will be accepted as unchallenged gospel. Of course every possible negative claim against Bush's evil henchmen must be correct -- we, after all, are the villainous thugs who started this whole mess. All the Guantanamo prisoners are helpless innocents who would never dream of harming anyone, other than perhaps in self defense against the capitalist/Christian "war against Islam."
In reality, none of us knows how the prisoners have been treated. I'm certainly open to the possibility that some of the claims have some basis in fact. But the unsubstantiated outrageousness of much of this story makes me cast doubt on the veracity of even the smaller allegations, and helps to renew, not diminish, my faith in the integrity of our military. And just as in the case of Jesse Friedman, I sure as hell hope my logic and gut feelings are right.
I recently read today's provocative "My Hell in Camp X-Ray" article published in the popular British magazine "The Mirror." It's the firsthand account of a British detainee recently released from Guantanamo Bay, whose story has been picked up by all the major news organizations. I read it a second time, in its entirety, and then a third. Ultimately, although my libertarian side is generally distrustful of government power, and although I continue to express serious concern about some of the legal issues surrounding Guantanamo procedures, I just can't accept this man's story as valid. Read it for yourself, be horrified, but then stop and think about the logistics of what he's alleging.
Al-Harith describes brutal physical and psychological torture on a mass scale. Frequent beatings. Unnecessary amputations. Mind games. The forced viewing of masturbating prostitutes, including women who smeared menstrual blood across inmates' faces. Black drinking water, and food expired more than ten years. The list goes on.
Shocking and outrageous if true, clearly. But think about your friends and family serving in the military. Don't you think one of them might have raised an objection, or gone public if these things were happening? Or what about others released from Guantanamo? Don't you think a few of them might have corroborated some of these allegations?
I'm reminded of the recent, brilliant documentary "Capturing the Friedmans," covering a father and son charged and convicted of hundreds of counts of sexual abuse -- which, when described in detail, fall apart under the impossibility of the stories. Parents would allegedly drop their children off for a computer class, and the father and son instructors would, among other equally shocking activities, play "leapfrog" by anally raping each student in a big circle in the center of the room. Yet no student (among over 100 total) ever complained, and parents never noticed anything wrong when they arrived an hour later to pick them up. The students even signed up for next year's courses.
The sheer volume of these claims, of repeated, public rape, should have made the case collapse under its own weight. It's not a matter of whether such evil people could exist, but rather a matter of the logistical impossibility (or at least extreme improbability) of the charges. And while the film itself tried to be as evenhanded as possible, allowing the viewer to come to the obvious conclusion that, at the very least, the allegations must have been exaggerated, the newly released DVD presents nearly all the collected evidence, making it impossible for any rational person to allow for the possibility of the men's guilt. Indeed, this research is helping Jesse (the son) vacate his conviction after serving 13 years for a crime he didn't commit. He even has the backing of the former students who continue to insist nothing ever happened, including the few who at the time were bribed, coerced or threatened into originally "admitting" they had been abused.
And so, back to Guantanamo, you have to think of the big picture -- in today's world, the military couldn't keep these kinds of abuses covered up on such a large scale. The International Red Cross (ICRC) has met with the prisoners and continues to make regular visits. According to the ICRC, the staff "speak to the internees in private, without supervision by the authorities." They have called most of the allegations made in the past (none of which rise to the level of the recent ones) "distortions." It would seem unlikely that, of all people, the very U.S.-critical ICRC would be complicit in such a massive cover-up.
Even the BBC's own reporting, which was designed to shock with the human rights abuse angle, directly conflicts with many of Al-Harith's claims, particularly with regards to disallowing showers, water, and prayer. Even the CBS investigation, again if anything trying to slant the story against Guantanamo policy, finds nothing even approaching the recent Mirror article.
In other words, either Al-Harith is lying, or everyone else, every military person serving there, every Muslim chaplain, every Red Cross volunteer, every foreign and domestic reporter, every single one of them is lying. This becomes an issue not of believability, but logic.
Judging by the pack mentality of the online anti-Bush/anti-America crowds since the story was released, Al-Harith's accusations will be accepted as unchallenged gospel. Of course every possible negative claim against Bush's evil henchmen must be correct -- we, after all, are the villainous thugs who started this whole mess. All the Guantanamo prisoners are helpless innocents who would never dream of harming anyone, other than perhaps in self defense against the capitalist/Christian "war against Islam."
In reality, none of us knows how the prisoners have been treated. I'm certainly open to the possibility that some of the claims have some basis in fact. But the unsubstantiated outrageousness of much of this story makes me cast doubt on the veracity of even the smaller allegations, and helps to renew, not diminish, my faith in the integrity of our military. And just as in the case of Jesse Friedman, I sure as hell hope my logic and gut feelings are right.
