Marine: Gitmo guards bragged about abuses

[thedrifter]

October 06, 2006
Marine: Gitmo guards bragged about abuses

By Thomas Watkins
Associated Press

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — Guards at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station, Cuba, bragged about beating detainees and described it as common practice, a Marine Corps sergeant said in a sworn statement obtained by The Associated Press.

The two-page statement was sent Wednesday to the Inspector General of the Department of Defense by a high-ranking Marine Corps defense lawyer.

The lawyer sent the statement on behalf of a paralegal who said men she met on Sept. 23 at a bar on the base identified themselves to her as guards. The woman, whose name was blacked out, said she spent about an hour talking with them. No one was in uniform, she said.

A 19-year-old sailor referred to only as Bo “told the other guards and me about him beating different detainees being held in the prison,” the statement said.

“One such story Bo told involved him taking a detainee by the head and hitting the detainee’s head into the cell door. Bo said that his actions were known by others,” but that he was never punished, the statement said. The paralegal was identified in the affidavit as a sergeant working on an unidentified Guantanamo-related case.

The statement was provided to the AP on Thursday night by Lt. Col. Colby Vokey. He is the Marine Corps’ defense coordinator for the western United States and based at Camp Pendleton.

A Guantanamo Bay spokesman said the base would cooperate with any Pentagon investigation. A Pentagon spokesman declined immediate comment. A call to the inspector general’s office was not immediately returned.

Other guards “also told their own stories of abuse towards the detainees” that included hitting them, denying them water and “removing privileges for no reason.”

“About 5 others in the group admitted hitting detainees” and that included “punching in the face,” the affidavit said.

“From the whole conversation, I understood that striking detainees was a common practice,” the sergeant wrote. “Everyone in the group laughed at the others stories of beating detainees.”

Vokey called for an investigation, saying the abuse alleged in the affidavit “is offensive and violates United States and international law.”

U.S. Navy Cmdr. Robert Durand condemned abuse or harassment of detainees and said he would cooperate fully with the inspector general.

“The mission of the Joint Task Force is the safe and humane care and custody of detained enemy combatants,” he said.

Guantanamo was internationally condemned shortly after it opened more than four years ago when pictures captured prisoners kneeling, shackled and being herded into wire cages. That was followed by reports of prisoner abuse, heavy-handed interrogations, hunger strikes and suicides.

U.S. military investigators said in July 2005 they confirmed abusive and degrading treatment of a suspected terrorist at Guantanamo Bay that included forcing him to wear a bra, dance with another man and behave like a dog.

However, the chief investigator, Air Force Lt. Gen. Randall M. Schmidt, said “no torture occurred” during the interrogation of Mohamed al-Qahtani, a Saudi who was captured in December 2001 along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Last month, U.N. human rights investigators criticized the United States for failing to take steps to close Guantanamo Bay, home to 450 detainees, including 14 terrorist suspects who had been kept in secret CIA prisons around the world.

Described as the most dangerous of America’s “war on terror” prisoners, fewer than a dozen inmates have been charged with crimes.

———

AP Writer Robert Jablon in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Ellie

[DWG]

The abridged story above fails to mention that the people bragging about these allegations were SAILORS, not Marines. I read the story on Fox twice before I realized that no Marines were part of this. It sounds to me that a bunch of drunken swabbies were trying to impress a female Marine with how tough they were. It just demonstrates that you need to watch your mouth when you are talking to people you don't know-you never know how it may end up being used against you. I resent the fact that the impression the story conveys is that it was Marines involved.

[jinelson]

It seems to me that if we were fighting this war like our enemy is we would have no detainees. What would the bleeding heart liberal media have to scream foul over then.

[DWG]

They will win this war like they "won" Viet Nam-in the U.S. Press-get ready for it, it WILL happen again, and if so we should finally take Smedley Butlers' advice and stay the f*** home-our politicians don't have the will to fight a war nor the intelligence to operate a police action.

[thedrifter]

Pentagon to Probe Gitmo Beatings Claim

By THOMAS WATKINS

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - The Pentagon said Friday that it will investigate a Marine's sworn statement that guards at Guantanamo Bay bragged about beating detainees and described it as a common practice.

The Marine, a paralegal who was at the U.S. Navy station in Cuba last month, alleges that several guards she talked to at the base club said they routinely hit detainees.

"From the whole conversation, I understood that striking detainees was a common practice," the sergeant wrote. "Everyone in the group laughed at the others' stories of beating detainees."

The woman's name was blacked out of a copy of a two-page affidavit provided to The Associated Press by a civilian defense attorney working with Lt. Col. Colby Vokey, the Marine Corps' defense coordinator for the Western United States and based at Camp Pendleton.

Vokey, who sent the statement Wednesday to the Inspector General at the Department of Defense, called for an investigation, saying the abuse alleged in the affidavit "is offensive and violates United States and international law."

Pentagon spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Chito Peppler said defense officials "are reviewing this affidavit and will investigate these allegations fully." A call to the inspector general's office was not immediately returned

Navy Cmdr. Robert Durand, spokesman for the Joint Task Force that oversees detention facilities at Guantanamo, said the force "will participate fully with the inspector general to learn the facts of the matter and will take action where misconduct is discovered."

"Abuse or harassment of detainees in any form is not condoned or tolerated," Durand said.

Guantanamo Bay houses about 450 suspected members of al-Qaida and the Taliban. Human-rights groups have roundly criticized the Bush administration for detaining most without criminal charges, but U.S. officials have defended the detentions as necessary in the war on terrorism and say the detainees are treated humanely.

The Marine said in the sworn statement that she has been working at Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton in Southern California on a Guantanamo-related case, and was in Guantanamo from Sept. 20-27.

She said some Marines had invited her to the base club Sept. 23. She didn't see them but a group of at least 15 sailors invited her to join them. She said she spoke with the sailors for about an hour, during which she had one drink, and that the sailors did not appear drunk.

A 19-year-old sailor referred to only as Bo "told the other guards and me about him beating different detainees being held in the prison," the statement said.

"One such story Bo told involved him taking a detainee by the head and hitting the detainee's head into the cell door. Bo said that his actions were known by others," the statement said. The sailor said he was never punished.

Other guards "also told their own stories of abuse towards the detainees" that included hitting them, denying them water and "removing privileges for no reason."

"About 5 others in the group admitted hitting detainees" and that included "punching in the face," the affidavit said.

Guantanamo was internationally condemned shortly after it opened more than four years ago when pictures captured prisoners kneeling, shackled and being herded into wire cages. That was followed by reports of prisoner abuse, heavy-handed interrogations, hunger strikes and suicides.

Military investigators said in July 2005 they confirmed abusive and degrading treatment of a suspected terrorist at Guantanamo Bay that included forcing him to wear a bra, dance with another man and behave like a dog.

However, the chief investigator, Air Force Lt. Gen. Randall M. Schmidt, said "no torture occurred" during the interrogation of Mohamed al-Qahtani, a Saudi who was captured in December 2001 along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Associated Press Writer Robert Jablon in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

A service of the Associated Press(AP)

: Saturday, October 7, 2006 3:45 AM CDT

Ellie

[Born Invincible]

Apparently the "Hearts and Minds" concept is out the window... The Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan today often wonder why so many Muslim radicals and insurgents are joining up well its things like this, Hamadiyah, Abu Gharib, and many untold Geneva Convention violations that occur that serve as a rallying call for future America Haters. If people looked at their actions on a more global scale and saw the effect it has on the world maybe some of these simple lapses in character would not occur... hopefully

[outlaw3179]

I wonder how fairly the soldiers who were caputured and killed in Muhmadiya were treated? Oh wait thats right , werent their tortured, mutilated bodies found booby trapped ....**** insurgents and their feelings.

[SSgtOfMarines]

Apparently the "Hearts and Minds" concept is out the window... The Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan today often wonder why so many Muslim radicals and insurgents are joining up well its things like this, Hamadiyah, Abu Gharib, and many untold Geneva Convention violations that occur that serve as a rallying call for future America Haters. If people looked at their actions on a more global scale and saw the effect it has on the world maybe some of these simple lapses in character would not occur... hopefully

+1

And this also applies to the Marines that waxed the Haji and planted the AK on him.

[horselady]

I wonder how fairly the soldiers who were caputured and killed in Muhmadiya were treated? Oh wait thats right , werent their tortured, mutilated bodies found booby trapped ....**** insurgents and their feelings.

I agree. We wouldn't have to win their hearts and minds if we
had continued showing them the massive force of the US military.
I lived in Japan for several years, many years after the end of WWII.
When US forces occupied Japan after the end of the war, the people
feared us, and rightly so. Winning their hearts and minds was
relatively easy when the people thought the US troops would
come in and shoot the men and rape the women. But this was
back when the enemy didn't have it in their minds that our troops would hesitate before shooting a civilian. So when the occupying forces
showed them any kindness, the Japanese were ready to roll over
and kiss their feet.

But history has shown the insurgents that they need not fear the US.
That sooner or later public opinion will turn against the war and we
will run away with our tail between our legs, the picture they have
of the US since Vietnam and Mogadeeshu. And they know enough
to cry "torture" whenever they are taken prisoner and the American
left will go out of their little minds. They are using our own democracy
against us and they will win this way.

Our mistake was taking so many prisoners in the first place instead
of eliminating them on the spot.

I don't know if it's a Marine saying or not, but my husband always
says, "Better that they fear you than like you."

[DWG]

Tell it like it is Horselady. Between the press and rogue lawyers/aclu, our troops can't engage the enemy anymore. Shut the damn country down, eliminate the "insurgents" and then declare "mission accomplished". Little known fact; in Germany all military aged men were detained for two tears after the war and they still had hard corps Krauts waging a guerilla action in the countryside, they called themselves werewolves, usually former SS troops determined to continue fighting. These hadjis don't need a reason to butcher our troops, just an excuse and anything will do. Mainly seeing the press from this country along with some politicians gives them reason to continue their attacks. Everytime kennedy or murtha open their mouths about how we are screwing up, they create a situation that urges the enemy to attack our troops and weaken the will of the people back home.

[OLE SARG]

We need to send fatass murtha and swimmer kennedy over there for a day or two. I bet their fatasses would lose a little weight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! murtha in the head and kennedy in the ass!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SEMPER FI,

[drumcorpssnare]

These bleeding heart liberals, with their politically-correct 'warm fuzzy' attitudes, make me want to puke.

OK, the government decides to go to war. They give the military their mission. Now, the politicians need to keep their noses out of it, and allow the military to accomplish that mission. Period.

All's fair in love and war. This country can't send our military to do a job, and tie their hands behind their backs, and expect them to succeed.

I would like to see America announce to the entire world..."We are going to implement a democracy in Iraq. We will do whatever it takes to accomplish this mission. You are either with us or against us. If you are an insurgent or terrorist, we will find you, capture you, interrogate you, torture you, kill you, or any combination of the above...in order to bring freedom to Iraq. If you are an Iraqi citizen, in favor of democracy, work with us. If not...that's OK. We'll kill you, too. Oh, and media personnel of any type are NOT invited to this party! That is all."

If we made such an announcement, then stood behind our word...the next day, the bad guys would all have such long faces, they'd all look like John Kerry! They would realize the jig's up, and they couldn't win. We have to hit them hard enough where their desire to fight, is crushed.

The other choice is to give milk and cookies to the terrorists and insurgents, make sure they're warm and cozy. Invite them into our country, show them where and how to place their explosives, put our tails between our legs, hang our heads and say, "Okay, you guys win."

"I DON'T FREAKIN' THINK SO!!!!