Joseph P Carey
06-24-05, 09:13 PM
Guantanamo jailed gone back to 'battlefield'- U.S.
Wed Jun 15, 2005 10:10 AM ET
By Marie-Louise Moller
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A dozen prisoners released from Guantanamo Bay have returned to "the battlefield" to fight against the United States, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said on Wednesday.
"There are several people that we have released that we know have come back and fought against America because they have been recaptured or killed on the battlefield," he said after meetings in Brussels with European Union officials.
He said 12 people may have been recaptured or killed.
He acknowledged that the prison camp for foreign terrorism suspects was causing concerns among U.S. allies, but he said Guantanamo detainees were treated in accordance with international law.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Vice-President Dick Cheney this week both defended the camp, which is at a U.S. base in Cuba, after U.S. lawmakers said it had created an image problem for the United States.
Gonzales said the camp would be closed eventually, but that the decision rested with President Bush.
"There will of course be an end," Gonzales told reporters. "Ultimately that will be ... for the commander-in-chief to decide when that will be," he added without giving any timetable.
The United States holds about 520 prisoners from more than 40 countries at Guantanamo, which it opened in January 2002 during the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan where most of the detainees were captured after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The camp has come under heavy criticism in Europe where activists decry the length of time inmates have been held and say prisoners' rights to a fair trial have been ignored. Gonzales admitted it was a cause for concern among allies.
"We want to listen and we hear their concerns and we are constantly re-evaluating what we are doing," he said.
But he also underlined the difference between the United States which sees the fight against terrorism as a war and many European states which tackle the problem as a crime.
"As a result different rules apply," Gonzales said.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2005-06-15T141040Z_01_N15259775_RTRIDST_0_POLITICS-SECURITY-USA-GUANTANAMO-DC.XML
I say we release the next bunch of prisoners from Gitmo in Dick Durbin's neighborhood.
Most respectfully
Joseph P Carey
Wed Jun 15, 2005 10:10 AM ET
By Marie-Louise Moller
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A dozen prisoners released from Guantanamo Bay have returned to "the battlefield" to fight against the United States, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said on Wednesday.
"There are several people that we have released that we know have come back and fought against America because they have been recaptured or killed on the battlefield," he said after meetings in Brussels with European Union officials.
He said 12 people may have been recaptured or killed.
He acknowledged that the prison camp for foreign terrorism suspects was causing concerns among U.S. allies, but he said Guantanamo detainees were treated in accordance with international law.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Vice-President Dick Cheney this week both defended the camp, which is at a U.S. base in Cuba, after U.S. lawmakers said it had created an image problem for the United States.
Gonzales said the camp would be closed eventually, but that the decision rested with President Bush.
"There will of course be an end," Gonzales told reporters. "Ultimately that will be ... for the commander-in-chief to decide when that will be," he added without giving any timetable.
The United States holds about 520 prisoners from more than 40 countries at Guantanamo, which it opened in January 2002 during the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan where most of the detainees were captured after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The camp has come under heavy criticism in Europe where activists decry the length of time inmates have been held and say prisoners' rights to a fair trial have been ignored. Gonzales admitted it was a cause for concern among allies.
"We want to listen and we hear their concerns and we are constantly re-evaluating what we are doing," he said.
But he also underlined the difference between the United States which sees the fight against terrorism as a war and many European states which tackle the problem as a crime.
"As a result different rules apply," Gonzales said.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2005-06-15T141040Z_01_N15259775_RTRIDST_0_POLITICS-SECURITY-USA-GUANTANAMO-DC.XML
I say we release the next bunch of prisoners from Gitmo in Dick Durbin's neighborhood.
Most respectfully
Joseph P Carey