This is our first interview in a series of interviews with former Guantanamo Bay detention camp guards and detainees.
Several current and former U.S. soldiers have expressed interest in speaking publicly about their experience at Guantanamo: including a CIA psychologist, interrogators, guards, and medical personnel. They are disgusted with what they witnessed or took part in at Guantanamo, but declined my request for an interview, because they fear opening themselves up to prosecution by the US government, which required them to sign a Non Disclosure Agreement .
I was also told that many are afraid of being prosecuted for war crimes, since low level soldiers are often the ones who shoulder the brunt of punishment and backlash; whereas higher ranking officials seem to escape scrutiny completely.
Brandon Neely, has been a vocal critic of both Guantanamo Bay, and the war in Iraq. And he speaks from experience, since he was both a guard at Guantanamo during the the first six months the camp was open, and served in Iraq during the US invasion. In the course of his advocacy, he has offered testimony to the Center for Human Rights in the Americas, and appeared in numerous articles and on television programs, including a BBC program that recounts how he contacted two of his former prisoners on Facebook to express remorse for what he did. You can also find him, where I did, on twitter, @BrandonTXNeely.
El País: Daniel Ortega, en la lista estadounidense de "los más buscados" (Daniel Ortega, on the U.S. list of "Most Wanted")
"Nicaragua no es una democracia pues los poderes del Estado están controlados por dos personas, el presidente, Daniel Ortega, y el opositor Arnoldo Alemán, expresidente, que no cumplen cárcel porque en el país centroamericano no hay justicia independiente, según un cable de la embajada de Estados Unidos en Managua. (Nicaragua is not a democracy because the branches of government are controlled by two people: the president Daniel Ortega and the opponent Arnoldo Aleman, former president, who are not in prison because the Central American country has no independent judiciary, according to an U.S. embassy cable from Managua.)"
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La Jornada: Falta el aval del Senado, pero ya votó Washington por Marisela Morales (The backing of the Mexican Senate is still lacking, but Washington already voted for Marisela Morales)
Aftenposten: FARYAB: A VIEW FROM MAIMANA
"Governor Shafaq, local Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) leaders, PRT Maimana military and civilian representatives all regard insurgency as the principal challenge facing Faryab province. They express their strongest concerns about Ghormach district, but see the entire "Pashtun belt," stretching northeast along the Turkmenistan border as a haven for anti-government fighters both the ideologically-motivated warriors and the "$10 a day" combatants simply seeking a paycheck. The weak performance of the Afghan Border Police (ABP) and the absence of Turkmenistan forces close to the border facilitate insurgent activity in this corridor. The Governor and the Afghan National Police (ANP) Chief favor the establishment of militias to enhance the counterinsurgency effort. From a governance and development perspective, Faryab presents a fragmented picture: a "Lone Ranger" Governor, a self-styled reformer with little confidence in other government officials; a newly-elected Provincial Council unsure of its role; and line ministry officials with differing approaches to incorporating popular wishes into the province's development plans."
Aftenposten: LIBYAN REACTION TO AQ-LIFG MERGER
La Jornada: Las armas más letales llegan al narco mexicano desde Centroamérica: EU (The Mexican drug cartels's most lethal weapons come from Central America: United States)
"Según el gobierno de Estados Unidos, las armas más letales y poderosas compradas ilegalmente por el crimen organizado en México, entre ellas equipo tipo militar de grueso calibre, no entran por la línea divisoria entre ambos países, sino provienen de los arsenales de los ejércitos de Centroamérica y son contrabandeadas por la frontera sur, a través de los cruces mal protegidos y peor vigilados por las autoridades mexicanas locales y federales. (According to the U.S. government, the most lethal weapons bought illegally by organized crime in Mexico, including team-caliber military-style, are not from the border line between the the US and Mexico, but from the arsenals of armies in Central America and are smuggled through the south border, poorly protected and poorly monitored by local and federal Mexican authorities.)"
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La Jornada: Armamento importado por Sedena "se desvía" hacia grupos criminales (Weapons seized by Sedena "deviates" to criminal groups)
El País: Clinton y Moratinos sugirieron que Juan Carlos I llamara a Mohamed VI para resolver el 'caso Haidar' (Moratinos suggested that Clinton and Juan Carlos I called Mohamed VI to solve the 'case Haidar')
"En diciembre de 2009, con una opinión pública conmocionada por la huelga de hambre en la que se había embarcado la activista saharaui Aminetu Haidar, arreciaban las peticiones de que el Rey Juan Carlos mediara en la crisis que había comenzado cuando la autoridades marroquíes impidieron a la líder saharui aterrizar en El Aaiún, le requisaron el pasaporte y la confinaron en el aeropuerto de Lanzarote. (In December 2009, with a public shocked by the hunger strike in which the Sahrawi activist Haidar had embarked, the requests grew for King Juan Carlos to mediate in the crisis that began when the Moroccan authorities prevented the Sahrawi leader landed at Laayoune, seized her passport and confined her at the airport of Lanzarote.)"
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El País: La exministra de Salud argentina comunicó a la Embajada de EE UU las carencias de la atención médica (Argentina's former Minister of Health informed the U.S. Embassy about gaps in health care)
The Telegraph: Charles Taylor may have $400 million out of reach
"Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president, could have as much as $400 million hidden away out of reach of prosecutors, according to leaked US diplomatic cables."
Aftenposten: ADDITIONAL DETAILS ON SYG,S MOSCOW TRIP ALLEGE PUTIN SPARRED ON MISSILE
"A usually reliable source on January 5 conveyed additional details to us about NATO SYG Anders Fogh Rasmussen,s December 17 interactions in Moscow with President Medvedev and PM Putin that were not reflected in the SYG,s report on the visit (reftel). Based on information from someone present at the Moscow meetings, the source reported that while Russian President Medvedev was polite, neither he nor PM Putin had expressed any real interest in cooperating with NATO. Putin allegedly told Rasmussen that NATO no longer has a purpose and it was in Russias interest that NATO no longer exist. 2. (S) The source claimed that in the SYG meeting with the PM, Putin had not let Rasmussen sit down before challenging him with the allegation that NATO planned to put missiles in Bulgaria, and demanding further information. This reporter threw the SYG off balance, although the source did not indicate how he responded."
Aftenposten: NATO SYG DROPS BOMBSHELL IN ABU DHABI RELATING TO MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS AND ALLIANCE POLICY
Next: A culture of vengeance
"Following clashes between Tiv and Jukun ethnic groups in Benue State in October 2001, President Olusegun Obasanjo took the customary step during our all too frequent periods of violent civic unrest and ordered in the army to maintain the peace.
But on Friday October 12 of that year, the bodies of 19 soldiers were found in the village of Zaki-Biam, victims of a local militia. In response, the Army deployed even more troops and subsequently exacted its revenge, with the result that more than 200 villagers, militiamen and innocents alike, were massacred. Local and international observers condemned the barbarous killings, though the military appeared unmoved."
(Image Credit: Dali Rău)
Next: Police admit no justice for Bola Ige
"Police spectacularly bungled the investigation into the brutal murder of Bola Ige, then the attorney general, from the very beginning, and have, to all appearances, given up trying to apprehend the killers. In the days immediately following the murder, the assistant inspector general directly in charge of the investigation confessed to American authorities that the police had already made a mess of their work, and compounded initial errors with even graver ones. The result is that the investigation has hit a dead end, and the police appear to have given up the search."
(Image Credit: Dali Rău)
Next: Ojo Maduekwe, an opportunist, says American official
"A former minister of foreign affairs, Ojo Maduekwe, is an opportunist who is willing to serve any administration in power irrespective of how it gets to office, according to a leaked United States diplomatic cable made available to NEXT.
In the October 19, 2007 cable to Washington, Lisa Piascik, the Charge d'Affairs of the US embassy in Nigeria, analysed the different contending groups pulling and pushing for the soul of the ruling People's Democratic Party."
Next: NIGERIA'S PDP - WHEN IS A PARTY NOT A PARTY?
"Obasanjo network:
-- David Mark (former Minister of Communications under Obasanjo, current Senate President)
-- Patricia Etteh (former hairdresser, romantic interest of Obasanjo, current Speaker of the House of Representatives)
-- Aliko Dangote (owner of the Dangote Group with substantial business interests in food processing, cement and freight, prominent funder of Obasanjo's 2003 re-election campaign)
-- Chris Uba (godfather of Anambra State, criminal ties)
..."
Next: KADUNA GOVERNOR BULLISH ABOUT PRESIDENTIAL PROSPECTS
Next: America humiliates Waziri
"On March 14, 2009, Ojo Maduekwe, former minister of foreign affairs, placed a call to Robin Sanders, former United States ambassador to Nigeria. Mr. Maduekwe asked to have a lunch meeting with Ms. Sanders in his private residence in the posh district of Maitama, in Abuja, popularly called Ministers Hill.
The agenda, the minister said, was the African Union Mission in Somalia. As detailed in a US diplomatic cable made available to NEXT, Ms. Sanders hurried to the minister's home. But on arrival, she realized that Mr. Maduekwe had lied to her about the essence of the meeting. The minister had set up another meeting for the US ambassador, and the agenda was far from being about AMISOM, as the Somali peacekeeping mission was known."
(Image Credit: Dali Rău)
Next: Ibori offers to set up fund with stolen billions
"In a desperate bid to save himself from arrest and prosecution, former Delta State governor, James Ibori, offered to surrender a huge chunk of his stolen billions to a trust fund that could finance development projects, according to a leaked U.S. diplomatic cable made available to NEXT.
The September 24, 2009 dispatch reported that Mr. Ibori, shortly before escaping to the United Arab Emirates after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission closed in on him, approached the United States embassy in Abuja for a deal that would have him give up between 20 and 50 percent of his loot in return for promises by foreign governments not to prosecute him. The former governor, the cable said, approached the embassy through a U.S. businessman and reputed lobbyist in the Washington, DC area, who estimated Mr. Ibori's stolen wealth to be about $3billion (N450 billion)."
Next: Etteh is Obasanjo's romantic interest, say American officials
"That former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the previous and first female Speaker of the House of Representatives, Patricia Etteh, have had more than a passing relationship has been popular street gossip in Nigeria for a long time.
But the Americans took the matter beyond chatter. In an October 19, 2007 cable to Washington, Lisa Piascik, the Charge d'Affairs of the US embassy in Nigeria, stated that both politicians were sweethearts."
Next: The Ugly Truth
"Less than a month to the commencement of the next general elections, politicians appear to be scheming again to rig the polls. Attahiru Jega, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), told a beleaguered audience in Abuja that some high profile Nigerians were involved in double registration.
“We even caught some high profile double registrants, and we will start with them in the area of prosecution,” Mr. Jega said."
Next: 'Jonathan voted four times in 2007'
"He was only a candidate for vice president then but in 2007, Goodluck Jonathan took matters into his own hands — literally. According to US diplomatic cables leaked to the whistleblower site Wikileaks, and which were made exclusively available to us, Mr. Jonathan helped himself gain the vice presidency four years ago by voting illegally four times. The astonishing accusation against Mr. Jonathan, now a president seeking validation at the polls next month, came from Edo governor Adams Oshiomhole, in a December 2008 briefing with US diplomats."
(Image Credit: Dali Rău)
UPDATE: Soldier sentenced for murder: "I lost my moral compass."
UPDATE 2: Rolling Stone, "The Kill Team"
Updates on the turn
“We apologize for the distress these photos cause”
On Sunday, the German weekly Der Spiegel published three photos -- from a reported trove of 4,000 videos and photos -- taken by members of a US army unit operating in Kandahar province last year. Two of the photos show soldiers in the unit lifting the body of an Afghan civilian by the hair and posing thus for the camera; the third shows two Afghans apparently or possibly killed while handcuffed together back to back. The photographs are not yet available onsite at Der Spiegel; David Dayen at firedoglake links to them here, here, and here.
As the Washington Post reported Sunday night, the identities of Gul Mudin, an unarmed Afghan civilian killed by the 5th Stryker Brigade unit, and the two soldiers photographed treating his body as a trophy have been known for some time. Twelve soldiers from the unit are currently being prosecuted in the deaths of three unarmed Afghan civilians last year; two are charged with murder and could face life imprisonment or the death penalty if convicted. The Post follows up with the best analysis so far of the impact these photos might have on those cases.
It is news, however, that the unit would have collected such a store of photographic evidence of their activities -- the Post, following suppressed military court evidence in the US, refers to "several hundred," but the Guardian, citing Der Spiegel, refers to 4,000.
The most telling news of all, however, is the official reaction of the US military to the publication of these three photographs.
Romanian Insider: New round of Wikileaks cables on Romania: energy sector, political corruption
"Several confidential documents concerning Romania have recently appeared on Wikileaks and have made headlines in the Romanian media. According to a Wikileaks cable quoted by news website Hotnews.ro, EU advisor Onno Simmons “warned that some sources have said that there is an <
La Jornada: Bajo la mesa, Washigton culpa a México del tráfico de armas (Under the table, Washington blames Mexico for the traffic of weapons)
"El escándalo por el plan Rápido y furioso revela el diálogo de sordos que existe entre ambos gobiernos. (The "Fast and Furious" scandal reveals the deaf dialogue between both governments.)"
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Aftenposten: FALUN GONG CRACKDOWN, DAY THREE
Der Spiegel: Die verkaufte Demokratie (The sold democracy)
"Indiens Regierung - eine Vetternwirtschaft, die sich aufs Schmieren versteht und politische Mehrheiten einfach kauft: So beschreiben Medienberichten zufolge US-Botschaftsdepeschen den indischen Staat. Premier Singh soll tatenlos zugeschaut haben. Die Beschuldigten weisen das zurück. (India's government - a partisanship that knows how to facilitate its ways and simply buy political majorities: so media reports describe the indian state, according to U.S. embassy dispatches. Premier Singh said to have watched passively. The defendants reject it.)"
Debate: This House believes whistleblowers make the world a safer place
On 9 April, the Frontline Club and the New Statesman will host a public debate in which Julian Assange will speak for the proposition "This House believes whistleblowers make the world a safer place."
The debate will be chaired by Jason Cowley, editor of the New Statesman; other panelists have yet to be announced. The event will be held at Kensington Town Hall at 5 pm GMT; it is already fully booked but should be both livetweeted and filmed.
Rob Stary, Australian lawyer for Julian Assange and WikiLeaks: interview
Last week the WikiLeaks Australian Citizens Alliance (WACA) posted the video of an interview they did with Rob Stary, Julian Assange's lawyer in Australia, before the WikiLeaks Free Speech Forum in Melbourne on 4 February.
Some of the interview focuses on legal and political issues particular to Australia. More generally, however, Stary challenges the claims of a number of governments that their legal manoeuvres against Assange and/or WikiLeaks are unaffected by politics. His analysis of the international interplay between law and politics is a fine summary of the state of play so far.
The Telegraph: BP's German Khan sees Godfather films as 'manual for life'
"German Khan, one of the central figures in oil gaint BP’s operations in Russia, told executives that the Godfather films were his “manual for life”.
At the time, the reports on Mr Khan, the billionaire founder of the Alfa Group consortium, raised questions about the British company’s Russian associates."
Next: Aondoakaa is a thug, say US officials
"Mike Aondoakaa, the former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, is a thug who did the late President Umaru Yar'Adua's dirty work, a leaked US diplomatic cable, made exclusively available to NEXT, has said.
In the cable, dated December 24, 2008, American diplomats attached to the US embassy in Nigeria, also criticised the late Yar'Adua's anti-corruption fight citing his choice of people with questionable characters as ministers. The cable, classified by the then acting political counsellor, Cheryl Fernandes and endorsed by then American Ambassador, Robin Sanders, is a comprehensive biographical background check on some ministers that served under the late President. "Aondoakaa is an intelligent, politically savvy lawyer who is reputed to have done some of Yar'Adua's dirty work, including attempts to disgrace Economic and Financial Crimes Commission former chairman, Nuhu Ribadu," the US officials wrote in their dispatch to Washington. "He is considered to be a thug heavily involved in illicit enrichment and cannot be trusted. Yar'Adua keeping him on belies his commitment to the rule of law." Contacted yesterday, Mr. Aondoakaa said the assessment of him was nonsense. "Is it not the same woman who said things about the speaker, about the President?" Mr. Aondoakaa said. "The woman was just here carrying out the wish of her masters. The US doesn't have serious attachment to these cables. The Nigerian government has denied these cables. What she was saying, if she said them at all, is nonsense.""
The Telegraph: Qatar asked Shell and ExxonMobil for donations
"Qatar wrote to major international oil companies, including Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil, to demand up to $1.7bn (£1bn) in donations for a medical centre, according to leaked diplomatic cables.
The Middle Eastern nation is one of the world's richest countries per capita on account of its oil and gas wealth. However, it caused surprise by approaching a number of companies that work with Qatar Petroleum with a cash call in 2007. According to the Wikileaks documents, letters signed by Abdullah al-Attiyah, the deputy prime minister, told each company how much they were expected to donate."
El País: Periodismo a sangre y fuego en Yemen (Journalism, blood and fire in Yemen)
US President Barack Obama, currently on a trip through Latin America, visited Chile yesterday to further expand trade relations and military and security cooperation between the two countries. He did not intend for his visit to be about the US’ history of interfering in Chile’s domestic affairs or, for that matter, human rights. But, the first question President Obama was asked was the following: Is the United States “willing to ask for forgiveness for what it did in those very difficult years in the ‘70s in Chile?”
President Obama answered, “I think it’s very important for all of us to know our history. And obviously the history of relations between the United States and Latin America have at times been extremely rocky and have at times been difficult.” But, “I think it’s important, though, for us, even as we understand our history and gain clarity about our history, that we’re not trapped by our history.”
Furthermore, President Obama said he could not “speak to all of the policies of the past” but could “speak certainly to the policies of the present and the future.” As he noted that the US has supported democratic reform in Chile for two decades, President Obama refused to acknowledge the true history of US relations with Chile, a history that involved supporting Gen. Augusto Pinochet in a CIA-backed coup in 1973.
President Obama may not want to get “trapped” in a discussion that leads him to have to take responsibility for the country, which he currently presides over, but files released between 1998 and 2003 show, according to investigative reporter Peter Kornbluh, “The US created a climate of a coup in Chile, a situation of chaos and agitation.”
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