Official: Gitmo Prisoners Waging 'Jihad'

[Rose Siding]

"The detainees view this as a struggle. They view this as a jihad ... They're trying to figure out ways that they can continue the fight," Navy Rear Adm. Harry Harris, the commander of the U.S. prison on Cuba's southeastern tip. "They do that with hunger strikes, overdosing on medicines. And now they've succeeded in killing themselves."
...
The doctor suggested the exams, performed by mental health professionals one to two weeks before the suicides, supported assertions by military officials that the prisoners killed themselves as a political act -- not because they were despondent about their prolonged detention.

"None had showed any signs of being depressed or having a mental condition," said the doctor, who is the medical officer in charge of the prison. He said medical personnel examined the detainees some 10 minutes after they were found and "did everything we could" to revive them, including using defibrillators.
...
Officials have also lowered the threshold to determine when a detainee is at risk of being suicidal, the doctor said. Now, any detainee thought to be a suicide risk is placed in a tear-proof anti-suicide smock -- which can't be fashioned into a makeshift noose -- for 72 hours and given a psychological exam, he said.

There are currently about 20 detainees in green anti-suicide smocks, the doctor said.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-guantanamo-suicides,0,4197167.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

[dubeskin]

1. Woohoo!!!

Now we have a jihad in the U.S., Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Afganistan, Israel, Paksitan, and Gaza!!!!!

[Rex]

2. So if all the 'detainees' commited mass suicide

would it be considered a major attack against US troops? :sarcasm:

[azurnoir]

3. More of that asymmetrical warfare n/t

[54anickel]

4. Hey Adm Harris - do you suppose part of their "struggle" was to seek

some justice and human rights for the detainees there? If that was the case - they "got you good" in this first battle. They got the attention of the world and the spotlight is now on you and your facility. Yet this is the best you can do? Bring in some shrinks to say they weren't despondent or depressed and that somehow backs your assertion that they are "defiant" and "resisting". Sheesh, have you any idea of how stupid you sound? Any idea of how ignorant and disrespectful of cultural differences your use of the term jihad in your defense is?

Sorry if this reads like rambling, it's late, I'm pissed and just sick of all this hiding behind National Security bullshit. If this is the crap we must endure, being done in OUR name, for a little false sense of security....well, I want my country back!

[MrPrax]

5. They could just release them

and save the hassle of putting them on suicide watches.

I am sure the doctor here is probably a little tired of avoiding his hippocratic oath to parrot this Mengele-like rationale.

[Judi Lynn]

6. They must be scraping the bottom of the barrel to find these "doctors"

who evaluate the prisoners, and assist them in their torture treatments. The "doctors" don't think they seem particularly depressed about having been imprisoned there for all these years, so this means the men are simply as evil as the _Bush administration claim they are, and it's proof they should be locked up! :crazy: :silly:

Navy Rear Admiral Harry Harris, commander of the Guantánamo detention camp, has told reporters that the suicides were a coordinated attempt to spark international outrage against the US. "They have no regard for human life. Neither ours nor their own," he said. "I believe this was not an act of desperation but an act of asymmetric warfare against us."
(snip)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0612/p01s01-usfp.html



Rear Admiral Harry B. Harris, Jr.

[uppityperson]

7. "Jihad" in this instance sounds like "Blazing Saddles"

[Supersedeas]

15. it doesn't sound like logic to me

[gratuitous]

8. I saw Harris on ABC's evening news

Apparently, Terry Moran is doing a series on Nightline, and was given some access at Guantanamo. They had a couple of clips of Moran talking to Harris, and Moran asked him about the "assymmetrical warfare" comment. Harris explained it very clearly, in erudite terms, without betraying the slightest outward indication that was he was saying was 100% Grade A batshit crazy.

I think if the shrinks at Guantanamo have an extra couch session or two, or a break in the prisoner evaluations, one of them could make his career interviewing Harris, he's that nutzoid.

[Solon]

9. I would say that this means they are engaging in a personal struggle...

I really hate the abuse of the word "Jihad" by both actual terrorists like OBL and our government and politicians.

[tom_paine]

10. They...they bled all over us.

The dastardly rascals!

I know it's still early in America's transition from freedom to slavery (well, early-middle...Phase I is over), but geez already we are approaching the shrieking high-comedy of the Nazis.

This is one of those still-rare moments. Wait for it. There's more coming.

[6000eliot]

11. What the fuck kind of twisted people are these people in charge?

They're "waging jihad" by killing themsleves?

[yurbud]

12. this is getting beyond embarrassing--will they ever SHUT UP?

When you are committing war crimes, the best thing to do is shut up and not draw attention to yourself.

[yurbud]

13. ...and thousands of Americans are committing jihad by lying on their

couches and watching TV...

[Solly Mack]

14. Oooh! And I bet they allowed themselves to be captured and detained

just so they could!

They've infiltrated GTMO and are now killing themselves to wage war on America! They would have done this when we first brought them here but they waited all this time to make it look as if detaining them for years without any recourse, without due process, was the blame. See how sneaky they are?

And...if anyone feels anger or depression about America's actions at GTMO(and elsewhere), then you're just suffering from post-asymmetrical warfare disorder...it's the detainees fault you feel this way.

It's not that being held for years without cause and ah... being "interrogated" (as Bush defines interrogate) over prolonged periods of time can cause depression and thoughts of hopelessness

No!No!No!

It's those evil-doing masterminds attempting to make America look bad...it's an attack on America's character...why! they are trying to win "hearts and minds" by killing themselves!

This isn't in any way America's fault! We didn't drive them to suicide. Heck, we put them on a tropical island for George's sake!

You know, suicide can be a political act but that little truth in no way changes the crimes of America against the detainees at GTMO (and elsewhere)...which include unlawful detention and torture. And for America to characterize the deaths of people we have detained for years, while denying them any legal recourse, as an act of holy war against America is nothing more than America attempting to absolve itself of any blame...

[Magleetis]

16. Are we sure

that is not Colbert in a Navy uniform?

[yurbud]

18. No, because I feel it in my gut

[Igel]

17. There's something I don't understand.

Many things, actually. I'll limit this to one.

I've never understood hunger strikes. My personal attitude has always been (for the last 30+ years, since before I was a teenager) is that if somebody wants to go on a hunger strike, for whatever reason, and then die or suffer permanent harm as a result, they've simply committed suicide or hurt themselves because they wanted to. No moral obligation by anybody around them. I'd stop somebody trying to slit their wrists because that may reflect a transient whim; but something lasting weeks is either a determined act or a long-term mental illness (with the distinction sometimes being hard to determine).

Prisoners' hunger strikes are ... acts of personal denial in the exploration of higher religious or philosophical truth? They're intended to hurt just the person doing the striking?

Are they somehow intended to pressure the warden into changing his/her policies and actions? To garner sympathy and support for a policy the 'striker' wants implemented or altered? (If so, it's a good thing I'm not a warden.)

And, yes, it's been pointed out that numerous rocks, and most algae, have greater levels of empathy than I do.