Michelle Malkin » Hunger-striking Gitmo inmate returns to his job with Al-Jazeera

Hunger-striking Gitmo inmate returns to his job with Al-Jazeera

By see-dubya • July 5, 2008 10:35 PM

Tim Sumner, at the invaluable 911 Families for America site, notes the release of an Al-Jazeera cameraman from Gitmo. Sami al-Haj was arrested on suspicion of producing videos for Al Qaeda and running money for the al-Haramain foundation.

He’s back at work for Al-Jazeera now, in a special “human rights” reporter job. And it sounds like he’s getting off to a fine start*:

The aircrew who brought him to Khartoum on a military transport said he was relaxed, standing up, walking around during the entire flight. When they landed at Khartoum, he looked out the window, saw all the media, and immediately collapsed in a chair. “I can’t walk,” said the former cameraman for Al-Jazeera, demanding an ambulance. He can be seen being carried off the plane on a stretcher, wincing as if in pain. In another video shot the same day, he’s seen reuniting with his family, walking, standing, smiling, miraculously healed. Gordon reports that the man who said he engaged in a 16 mos hunger strike “left Guantanamo four pounds lighter than when he arrived.”

Much more at the link.

I’m not surprised the guy looks like hell. He’s been on a hunger strike. It’s not like we haven’t been trying to feed him.

Al-Haj also repeats the “unlubricated feeding tubes” lie, which Gitmo psych nurse Stashiu3 disputes. I know who I believe.

__________

*I didn’t see a record of that statement, but Sumner tells me that’s an exclusive interview between Gordon and his co-author Debra Burlingame.

_________

{Post by See-Dubya}

Posted in: Gitmo, Media

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#1

On July 5th, 2008 at 10:49 pm, Die Hippie, Die said:

From the Unclassified Summary of Evidence of Sami al-Haj’s July 8, 2006, Administrative Review Board, it appears he was held and questioned at Guantanamo for good reasons:

The following primary factors favor continued detention:

a. Commitment

1. The detainee worked as an executive secretary for Abdul Al-Latif Al-Imran, general manager for the Union Beverage Company (UBC).
2. The Union Beverage Company has been associated with Bosnian/Chechen mujahid.
3. The detainee traveled to Azerbaijan at least eight times to courier money to the Al-Haramayn non-governmental organization (NGO) on behalf of his boss, Abd Al-Latif Omran.
4. Al-Haramayn has been designated under Executive Order 13224 as an organization that has provided support to terrorist organizations.
5. During the winter of 1997, the detainee delivered $7,000 USD to Al-Haramayn.
6. During the winter of 1998, the detainee delivered $13,000 USD to Al-Haramayn.
7. During the summer of 1999, the detainee visited Al-Haramayn’s summer camp, and delivered $13,000 USD to Al-Haramayn.
8. During November 1999, the detainee delivered $12,000 USD to Munir Al-Barguoni for a new factory in Azerbaijan; he also delivered $100,000 USD to Jamal, the Director of Al-Haramayn.
9. The detainee was detained in Azerbaijan for the transport of $220,000 USD. The money was destined for Chechen rebels and not for humanitarian support as the detainee was told.
10. After serving as the Al-Haramayn Director in Baku, Azerbaijan from 1997 to January 2000, Jiman Mohammed Alawi Al Muraai, aka Abu Wafa, took a job operating the Wafa offices in Karachi, Pakistan.
11. Al Wafa has been designated under Executive Order 13224 as an organization that has provided support to terrorist organizations.
12. While working at the Union Beverage Company, the detainee met Mamdouh Mahmoud Salem.
13. Mamdouh Mahmoud Salem Abu Hajir was arrested in Germany in September 1998 and extradited to the United States. He was a senior al Qaeda lieutenant and Bin Laden’s deputy in Sudan.
14. The detainee founded a company on 20 May 1999 in Azerbaijan named “SAMICO Services.”
15. SAMICO documents were found during a raid of locations occupied by suspected extremists affiliated with Muhammad Rabi’a Abdul Halim Sha’ib (an Egyptian extremist).
16. To register a company in Azerbaijan, authorities required that a registree have a registered business in another country.
17. Because the detainee did not have a registered company elsewhere, he used falsified documents to register his company. According to the detainee, the falsified documents showed him as a co-owner of Rumat International.
18. According to a Foreign Government Service, the detainee and Mamduh Muhammad Salim Ahmad, aka Abu Mu’izz, are both affiliated with Rumat International. Ahmed was subsequently arrested on suspicion of participating in the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
19. While in Azerbaijan, the detainee came into contact with Ashraf, who ran the juice distribution business for the Union Beverage Company in Azerbaijan.
20. Between 1994-1998, Ashraf Abdulrahim Ayub worked for the Kuwaiti Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS), a non-governmental organization.
21. The Revival of Islamic Heritage Society has been identified under Executive Order 13224 as a terrorist affiliated organization.
22. As of late March 2003, a foreign government was investigating Ashraf for possible ties to terrorism.
23. On 4 January 2000, the detainee attempted to reenter Azerbaijan, but was detained and then deported from the country. The deportation was due to his alleged activities supporting Chechen rebels.

b. Other Relevant Data

1. In March or April 2000, the detainee left the Union Beverage Company and went to work for Al Jazeera in Doha, Qatar.
2. The detainee was hired to go to Chechnya to do a story.
3. Around this time, the detainee met with the former President of Chechnya, who was exiled in Doha, Qatar, on at least 15 occasions to learn about Chechnya and to solicit help in gaining access to Chechnya.
4. Following the September 11th attack, the detainee was told by Al-Jazeera to forget Chechnya and go to Afghanistan.
5. The detainee interviewed several Taliban officials during his stay in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
6. The detainee interviewed a man who identified himself as Abu Hafa Al Moritani, a member of al Qaeda.
7. Abu Hafa was one of Usama bin Laden’s personal advisors and a religious recruiter. He was also the leader of the Mauritanian al Qaeda cell.
8. The detainee was stopped in early December 2001 at the border by Pakistani security. According to Pakistan security, the passport the detainee had in his possession did not agree with Pakistani records.
9. The detainee was detained at the Afghanistan/Pakistan border because his name appeared on a border authority watch list.

Gee willikers! It’s awfully judgmental to conclude this member of the Religion of Peace was up to no good.
#2

On July 5th, 2008 at 11:05 pm, BrianNY said:

…he (Sami al-Haj) looked out the window, saw all the media, and immediately collapsed in a chair. “I can’t walk,” said the former cameraman for Al-Jazeera, demanding an ambulance.

It sounds like someone was taught how to tug at the heartstrings of the anti-war Left.

Then again, didn’t seized al Qaeda material from years ago detail a strategy of utilizing the American Left’s sympathies to their advantage, a la the lessons of Vietnam?

Does anyone else remember those hard files?
#3

On July 5th, 2008 at 11:19 pm, Tennessee Dave said:

He can walk; then he can’t walk; then he can walk…
Sounds like a democrat flip-floppin.
#4

On July 5th, 2008 at 11:42 pm, jimyai said:

Sorry to go OFF TOPIC so quickly.
It looks like Foxnews may hav dropped Geraldo at Large and replaced him with Larry Elders. If so good move by Fox.
#5

On July 5th, 2008 at 11:46 pm, RetFireman said:

Wow…a 16 month hunger strike and he lost a whopping 4 pounds. Sounds like the Cindy Sheehan Hunger Strike Plan has once again worked it’s wonders.

I didn’t know they had Jamba juice at GitMo.

however, no one should be surprised at his feigned weakness from all the hunger and torture. Every single one of these thugs and losers have done the exact same thing when they got out. Every one of them is to claim torture, foul treatment and everything else.

Yes, there was a paper out concerning what they are to do in order to win over the “Kumbaya Kroud” I believe, if not mistaken, that it was from a training manual that was discovered in either New York in a cell that was raided, or in a safe house in Afghanistan shortly after the war began. Sure enough, they have followed the rules to the letter every step of the way. And sure enough, the American Left has sucked it up and done exactly what they knew they would.
Dance little puppets, dance. Your Islamic puppet masters command you.
#6

On July 5th, 2008 at 11:53 pm, Christian Soldier said:

“Club Gitmo” as Rush calls it;the detainees are better fed than I am!!!

Now - if it were a prison in an Islamic country - like - say - Iran…the prisoner would be treated MUCH differently!!!!

http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2007/02/iranian-student-activist-ahmad-batebi.html
#7

On July 6th, 2008 at 12:05 am, rambler said:

What, he didn’t like the chicken with orange sauce? He’s just lucky I wasn’t running Gitmo.
#8

On July 6th, 2008 at 12:05 am, Christian Soldier said:

By the way—He has escaped after many years of brutal treatment–Mr. Batebi:

Read his wish for all who would be free to savor FREEDOM…..
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/07/breaking-irans-most-famous-political.html#comments
#9

On July 6th, 2008 at 12:25 am, Send_Me said:

No worries. He’ll just lead us to more bad guys. In the future, upon a midnight dreary, while he ponders, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten Quran–
While he nods, nearly napping, suddenly there will come a crashing,
As of some one strongly tapping, rapping at his chamber door.
“‘Tis some visiter,” he will mutter, “tapping at my chamber door–
Only this and nothing more.”
Then an American Soldier not so gently rapping, rapping at his chamber door,
will haul them off to Gitmo-
Only this and nothing more.
#10

On July 6th, 2008 at 12:34 am, twofoot said:

I was thinking the same thing Fireman. 16 months of hunger strike and all he has to show is 4 pounds? I lost more than that in a single week in boot camp.

And to think there are idiots who will buy into this kind of nonsense.
#11

On July 6th, 2008 at 1:06 am, Lifeofthemind said:

The Iraqis are suing al-Jazeera. Maybe we can ask the Columbians to go in and dismantle the place? This is not a free speech issue. People die because of that organization.
#12

On July 6th, 2008 at 1:55 am, berkeleythurm said:

Once again, as was the case when detainees at Guantanamo were granted habeas corpus, it’s absolutely sad what I’m reading from people on this blog. The abuse of detainees has been corroborated by US SOLDIERS WHO WORKED THERE and detainees who were released with no charges filed after having spent years in confinement in legal limbo.

The systematic abuse of detainees at Kandahar , Guantanamo, and Bagram has been well documented and disseminated by people that I think many on this board would trust. The truly sad (and dangerous) part is the apathy and dismissive nature of large segments of the America public with comments like:

1) “They were all captured on some arbitrary battlefield”
A PROVABLY FALSE STATEMENT.

2) “The American left continues to apologize for Islamic terrorists”
I’M FAR FROM A LEFTIST AND MANY OTHERS THAT HAVE THE MORAL CLARITY TO ADMIT ABUSE OF DETAINEES IN AMERICAN CUSTODY AREN’T EXACTLY THE WOODSTOCK CROWD.

3) “Absolutely everyone we’ve captured must be some terrorists or member of Al Qaeda, or the Taliban.
GEE, QUITE A EXORBITANT AMOUNT OF TERRORISTS WE’VE RELEASED WITHOUT CHARGE THEN ANYTHING A FEW WHO MURDERED WHILE IN AMERICAN CUSTODY.

Educate yourselves people about what’s been done in the name of the United States of America. The facts are there for those who want the truth.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/02/washington/02terror.html?_r=1&ref=nationalspecial3&oref=slogin

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0217-09.htm

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR51/007/2006

Also, I encourage all of you to view “Ghosts of Abu Ghraib”. The testimony in the documentary are straight from the mouths of members of the U.S. armed forces. I don’t think they fell under the sway of any Al-Qaeda memo enjoining them to lie about abuses at U.S. facilities.
#13

On July 6th, 2008 at 2:25 am, slp said:

On July 6th, 2008 at 1:55 am, berkeleythurm said

Go peddle your lies at Kos and Huffington Post.

You are not going to get the time of day here.
#14

On July 6th, 2008 at 2:55 am, berkeleythurm said:

To SLP,

Stop being intellectually lazy and do some research for yourself.
#15

On July 6th, 2008 at 4:00 am, slp said:

On July 6th, 2008 at 2:55 am, berkeleythurm said:

It does not tell much intellect to determine who is lying and who is telling the truth.

Like see-dubya, I believe Stashiu3 and not Sami al-Haj, Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, and the enemy combatants who have been released from Guantanamo.
#16

On July 6th, 2008 at 5:39 am, skysoljr82 said:

slp-#13 & #15. DITTO
#17

On July 6th, 2008 at 6:39 am, zorro said:

Maybe Sami al-Haj can be assigned as war correspondent (like Geraldo’s original FNC title) and embed with UBL, then we can bag him again.

As for the leftist propaganda berkeley, we are not “intellectually lazy”, we are just not gullible to lies spewed by those who hate America.
#18

On July 6th, 2008 at 7:04 am, ajmontana said:

OK, Who smuggled the code-stink playbook into gitmo?
#19

On July 6th, 2008 at 7:12 am, Blind_Mule said:

berkeleythurm said:

You used the most reliable and agenda free sources I can think of, The New York Times, Amnesty International, Common Dreams and lets not forget your screen name that adds so much credibility. Pfffft, if anyone here is intellectually lazy that would be your dumb a$$ for even attempting to bring your propaganda here.
#20

On July 6th, 2008 at 7:14 am, Blind_Mule said:

Fool
#21

On July 6th, 2008 at 7:14 am, Dandapani said:

Muslims are allowed to lie to infidels in order to advance the cause of Allah. This practice, as many of you know, is called taqqiya.

Here
#22

On July 6th, 2008 at 7:23 am, Blind_Mule said:

Here is Jimma Cotter at his Hamas book signing.
#23

On July 6th, 2008 at 9:22 am, PatriotRider said:

So would Berkley be OK with feeding these pukes something like, say, 5.56 or 7.62 and closing Gitmo? That would pretty much end that arguement. We wouldn’t get much info out of these “detainees” but then we wouldn’t be causing them to lose so much weight either.
#24

On July 6th, 2008 at 9:40 am, Die Hippie, Die said:

The systematic abuse of detainees at Kandahar , Guantanamo, and Bagram has been well documented and disseminated by people that I think many on this board would trust.

And paragraphs later you contradict yourself by citing the New York Times, Common Dreams “Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community” and ~~Amnesia~~ Amnesty International?

Swing and a miss. Swing and a miss. Swing and a miss. Next batter.
#25

On July 6th, 2008 at 9:56 am, Rob said:

Why are these animals still alive?
#26

On July 6th, 2008 at 10:18 am, PatriotRider said:

On July 6th, 2008 at 9:56 am, Rob said:
Why are these animals still alive?

I believe it has something to do with how compassionate we’ve become for the enemy and those who want to kill us since ‘Nam. Or is it because we’ve become sheep since the hippies took over? I can’t remember.

Bottom line: after we let these pukes go and they do come to kill us on our own turf, and they will, I’m prepared to defend my country. And I will hold the trolls and bleeding hearts responsible.
#27

On July 6th, 2008 at 10:19 am, Boomer said:

I would prefer we repatriate all these savages back to their home country via C-130 by taking them half way across the Atlantic open the cargo door and kick them all out at 25,000 ft and let the survivors swim the rest of the way.

But would that hurt the planet by producing all those Global Warming gases. I guess PatriotRider’s solution of a diet of 5.56 mm or 7.62 mm would be more Earth friendly in the use of carbon producing gases while relieving our fragile planet of having the continued carbon foot print of these savages. Maybe that will make the trolls happier after all we have to save the planet!
#28

On July 6th, 2008 at 10:27 am, see-dubya said:

Berkeleythurm:

US Soldiers who worked there–like Muslim Chaplain and Obama superdelegate James Yee?
#29

On July 6th, 2008 at 10:29 am, Die Hippie, Die said:

On July 6th, 2008 at 10:19 am, Boomer said:
I would prefer we repatriate all these savages back to their home country via C-130 by taking them half way across the Atlantic open the cargo door and kick them all out at 25,000 ft and let the survivors swim the rest of the way.

Permit me to build on your idea.

Implant GPS chips in the savages. Allow them to return to their HHOOs (Hell holes of origin). Wait until their friends, families and Al Qaeda cellmates have gathered for the homecoming party. Then the homecoming gifts arrive in the form of multiple GBU-49 deliveries.

Allahu Akbar indeed!
#30

On July 6th, 2008 at 10:35 am, Boomer said:

Die Hippie, Die I like the way you think!
#31

On July 6th, 2008 at 10:43 am, Die Hippie, Die said:

Boomer:

It’s just a testimony to “The Wisdom of Crowds.”
#32

On July 6th, 2008 at 10:51 am, Mojave Mark said:

So we’re to understand that this guy is a liar. Well, he does work for the media so no surprise there.
#33

On July 6th, 2008 at 11:00 am, DogBreath said:

What?!! No offer of a teaching position at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism?!!

I’m sure that oversight will be corrected immediately. Followed shortly thereafter by a six-figured salary from the NYT.
#34

On July 6th, 2008 at 11:02 am, ajmontana said:

boomer and DHD,
All sounds well and good but, I want in on the action.
Drop em off at ground zero, tell them they’re free to go and see how many blocks/feet they can make it before “the end”.
#35

On July 6th, 2008 at 11:09 am, Sergeant Tim said:

Careful al Jazzera, Sami al-Haj may actually be a spy for the New York Times.

Note: I was going to add “…and the enemy” to the above yet why write the same thing twice in one sentence.
#36

On July 6th, 2008 at 11:23 am, berkeleythurm said:

No See-dubya,

A soldier like a former student of one of my professors who committed suicide because of what he had both seen and committed during interrogations at U.S. camps. Oh, and stay classy Blind_Mule (LOL). You’re welcome to stay in your bubble if you want. Can give you myriad other sources of U.S. abuses at prison camps. Of course, I’m going to hear the same drivel and denials from conservative ideologues about this, as I hear from liberal ideologues in issues of concern to them. It doesn’t matter what proof you’re presented with, how many government memos are released, how many detainees end up dead in U.S. custody, the denial is going to keep coming because the issue of Guantanamo confronts your very image of the U.S. When the good of the U.S. is illuminated, liberals run for the hills, circumvent the issue or just deny the facts. Similarly, as you’re seeing on this board, when the bad of the U.S. is illuminated, conservatives do the same things. I’ll reiterate people, THE INFORMATION IS THERE FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO KNOW. In terms of Guantanamo, what I’m realizing is that many of you don’t want to know what has happened to these people while in U.S. custody. That’s evident by the continuous dumb and fallacious statements of “they were all picked up on the battlefield” or “affiliated with al-Qaeda or the Taliban”. Just as long as the al-Qaeda and Taliban label is placed, the dehumanization process can commence and then who cares what these people experienced. There are ruthless terrorists there of course, lot of them. No one’s denying that. Nevertheless, there’s also a few people picked up by the Northern Alliance and Pakistani ISI for the unforgivable fact of being an object of disdain for some eminent warlord. Of course, truth is starting to matter less and less, at least with this issue, for people on this board. See no evil, hear no evil. Believe what you will, THAT IS UNDOUBTEDLY A GREAT PART OF AMERICA. Good day, ladies and gentlemen.
#37

On July 6th, 2008 at 11:26 am, Die Hippie, Die said:

On July 6th, 2008 at 11:02 am, ajmontana said:
boomer and DHD,
All sounds well and good but, I want in on the action.

What if we arrange it so you can push the bomb release button?

Before I’m accused of plagiarism, I must admit I took my idea from a Raid commercial–the one where the ants carry the poison back to the anthill. Then the queen eats the poison and the colony withers away.
#38

On July 6th, 2008 at 11:31 am, ajmontana said:

berserkeley #36,
boo freakig hoo for gitmo prisoners, what did these people do and how many attacks have been squelched because of our techniques.
innocent victims
#39

On July 6th, 2008 at 11:34 am, Die Hippie, Die said:

berkeleythurm:

I reject your entire premise that Guantanamo is America’s bad. I think Guantanamo is G-R-R-R-R-EAT!!!

Interrogators know their objective is to get info out of detainees, not to kill them. Every soldier on the battlefield has that concept drilled into him. EPWs and battlefield detainees are valuable intel sources. Protect them and speed them to the rear for questioning.

AND THAT’S REGARDLESS OF WHAT SCOTT THOMAS BEAUCHAMP SAYS!!!

And stop addressing us as “people.” Makes you sound like Sister Mary Elephant.
#40

On July 6th, 2008 at 11:38 am, ajmontana said:

What if we arrange it so you can push the bomb release button?

nah, i want sore knuckles.
#41

On July 6th, 2008 at 11:39 am, PatriotRider said:

Apparently we’ve hurt the poor little hippie-liberal-kool-aid drinker’s feelings by not buying into the 9/10 mindset.

What he/she/it doesn’t understand is that we do acknowledge that there have been some missteps in this whole mess but the US is in no way the evil em[pire the BDS people (term used loosly) would have us to believe. At least we aren’t going old school on that rat hole and carpet bombing it into a piece of glass. Lots of collateral damage that way.

So I hope God gets a hold on Berkley so he can see the world for what it is. Hear no evil, see no evil indeed.
#42

On July 6th, 2008 at 11:42 am, Die Hippie, Die said:

On July 6th, 2008 at 11:23 am, berkeleythurm said:
No See-dubya,
A soldier like a former student of one of my professors who committed suicide because of what he had both seen and committed during interrogations at U.S. camps.

Dude! Whoa, man. You had a professor at Berkeley who interrogated prisoners at Gitmo? Heavy duty, man! Then he committed suicide? Whoa-a-a. Probably the MOSSAD got to him.

Watch your six and keep the tinfoil hat on tight!
#43

On July 6th, 2008 at 11:43 am, JHSII said:

I was wondering if berkeleythurm testified at any of the Winter Soldier events - because it sure sounds like the “testimony” John Kerry gave!
#44

On July 6th, 2008 at 11:52 am, ArizonaNeanderthal said:

When they landed at Khartoum, he looked out the window, saw all the media, and immediately collapsed in a chair. “I can’t walk,”

That kind of well documented? Would that be like the ‘flushing a Koran down a toilet’? It must have been one big trap on that toilet wouldn’t you think?

US SOLDIERS WHO WORKED THERE and detainees who were released with no charges filed after having spent years in confinement in legal limbo.

For one I would have to talk to those soldiers. We have had too many reports from ’soldiers’ who never were or were never there.
‘detainees who were released with no charges filed’ such as Sami al-Haj?

Yes, POWs can be treated rough. Illegal combatants, saboteurs and spies can be summarily shot. During the Second World War it was my father’s great privilege to command a firing squad that shot two Hitler youth for trying to set booby traps. He always did enjoy that.

But there are those who feel the greatest Patriotism is running down their country, planting bombs in the Pentagon and police stations, being friends of people who plant bombs and voting for people whose friends plant bombs.

But I heard all this when I returned from Viet Nam. The Leftist lied then and the Leftist lie now. I hated Leftist then and I hate Leftist now.
#45

On July 6th, 2008 at 12:04 pm, d1carter said:

Don’t you just love those pseudo intellectuals that like to put down anyone who does not agree with them. You know the type, the hard left. They normally say something like, “you’re brainwashed”. It is just a shame the rest of us are just a bunch of dumb clods…
#46

On July 6th, 2008 at 12:06 pm, brooklyn red said:

I predict that before the election this guy will have an op/ed in the NYT…
#47

On July 6th, 2008 at 12:23 pm, JHSII said:

I notice something else that berkeleythurm got 180 degrees out of phase:

When Conservatives see something wrong with America - we try to fix it! We don’t run from it, we don’t try to circumvent it, we don’t try to deny it - and unlike liberals we don’t try to make it worse so that we can parade around as self-proclaimed saviors.
#48

On July 6th, 2008 at 12:24 pm, Sergeant Tim said:

Another reminder — Zia — that the jihadists walk among us.
#49

On July 6th, 2008 at 12:30 pm, MacEamonn said:

Maybe we should have taken a page out of the Radical Muslim Jihadist playbook and shot this lowlife in the head and dumped his body on the tarmac. Then the left wing press would have something real to report!
#50

On July 6th, 2008 at 12:43 pm, Karmi said:

A “human rights” job…sure. He should try acting.
#51

On July 6th, 2008 at 12:47 pm, bradley said:

It would be TERRIBLE if these fanatics, once released from Gitmo, were flown back to the Middle Ages in airplanes with “faulty” doors, meaning doors that unexpectedly open and cause them to take an unexpected flying lesson in the mid-Atlantic.
#52

On July 6th, 2008 at 12:54 pm, GladzKravtz said:

The aircrew who brought him to Khartoum on a military transport said he was relaxed, standing up, walking around during the entire flight.

Suggestion: Video!
We have to get ahead of this!
#53

On July 6th, 2008 at 12:58 pm, RetFireman said:

On July 6th, 2008 at 11:23 am, berkeleythurm said:
No See-dubya,

A soldier like a former student of one of my professors who committed suicide because of what he had both seen and committed during interrogations at U.S. camps.

So…it is the “Friend of a friend of a friend has heard it from this guy who knew this guy who was there…but can’t be questioned because he is dead” theory that you are using now?

Oh come ON!!! You then try to use the fact that this poor person, this “soldier” friend that committed suicide based on all the horrible….HORRIBLE things he personally is responsible for is a former student of one of your PROFESSORS???? Because as we all know…there is not one single professor on today’s campuses, let alone a campus like Berkeley, who would be above using some fake student story from one that never existed in order to bolster his own agenda of anti-war nuttiness and brainwashing of their students, right?

OMG…I can’t believe this little troll is going to try to sway us all with his valuable and extensive list of information.

You sir or ma`am are a fool and a gullible troll. I recommend that YOU do some research on your own, stop going to the Liberal hate sites such as Kos, DU, HuffPo and the rest of the well known Liberal and clearly stated Socialist agneda driven places, and find out for yourself the truth of the matter. GO and actually speak to the men and women who have served there, who have actually been their themselves, and not through anectdotal fairytales you have read on some website and from some college professor.

And for God’s sake…read the websites you post on before you open up your gop. It might save you a whole heap of embarrassment.

“My professor had this student who knew this guy…” Oh puh-leeeeze.
#54

On July 6th, 2008 at 1:14 pm, John Ansell said:

The Green, Green ~~Grass~~Arugula of Home

There, fixed it for ya.
#55

On July 6th, 2008 at 1:22 pm, see-dubya said:

Don’t you just love those pseudo intellectuals that like to put down anyone who does not agree with them. You know the type, the hard left. They normally say something like, “you’re brainwashed”. It is just a shame the rest of us are just a bunch of dumb clods…

Yep. I surely do resent the implication that just because anyone dares to disagree, it’s willful blindness.

Because you have teh seekrit knowlidge that a professor at Berkeley gave you.

I’ve probably done as much as anyone in the conservative blogosphere-with the exception of Debra Burlingame and Tim Sumner–on digging into accusations of abuse at Gitmo and the Gitmo lawyers‘ Kuwaiti-funded PR campaign.

Perhaps I’m just willfully blind, but I’m not especially surprised at the picture that has emerged of the Gitmo Lawyers.
#56

On July 6th, 2008 at 1:26 pm, GladzKravtz said:

berkeleythurm,

seek and you will find.
If you looked for the good of our troop/guards serving at GITMO, you would find that too, albeit under-reported.

I had a long talk in an airport with a US soldier who served as a guard at one of the prisons in Iraq.
1)He said he had some good encounters/discussions with prisoners - healthy discussions/debate/comparisons over Bible and Quran.
2)He also said that even today and back at home, he is uneasy having anyone approach him from behind - and why do you think that is…?

Most of us on this board seek the good of our troops while weighing out the bad…….good wins.

Re: GITMO - You put more weight into the bad (as ‘reported’). Seek and you will find.
#57

On July 6th, 2008 at 1:32 pm, John Ansell said:

Mohammed al-Qahtani, detainee No. 063, was forced to wear a bra. He had a thong placed on his head. He was massaged by a female interrogator who straddled him like a lap dancer

They forgot to mention the worse part: He wasn’t able to tip her in order to get the “special” torture.
#58

On July 6th, 2008 at 1:56 pm, BrianNY said:

Mohammed al-Qahtani, detainee No. 063, was forced to wear a bra. He had a thong placed on his head. He was massaged by a female interrogator who straddled him like a lap dancer

I find it amusing that, what many libs consider to be “torture,” is the same treatment that Eliot Spitzer would’ve paid handsomely for.
#59

On July 6th, 2008 at 1:59 pm, Blind_Mule said:

Oh, and stay classy Blind_Mule (LOL). You’re welcome to stay in your bubble if you want.

Don’t worry your little brain off about me, Thank you so much I will stay classy, I’m in a bubble? why did’nt any of you tell me? Can any body know how to use this stuff?
#60

On July 6th, 2008 at 2:00 pm, Blind_Mule said:

that should be can anybody tell me how to use this stuff
#61

On July 6th, 2008 at 2:04 pm, brooklyn red said:

RetFireman, re: “So…it is the “Friend of a friend of a friend has heard it from this guy who knew this guy who was there…but can’t be questioned because he is dead”

Should be easy enough to verify… first ya get a list of all the Berkeley students that every served & then check them both out.
#62

On July 6th, 2008 at 2:20 pm, John Ansell said:

I once heard TEd Kennedy sing Mariachi music, I am still suffering. I really don’t think I will recover the pain I was put through.
#63

On July 6th, 2008 at 2:38 pm, RetFireman said:

Yup…the guy served as an American Military Interrogator, served his whole tour, then left to goi to Berkeley where he unloaded his heavy conscience on his professor….obviously after building up quite the repoire and building a great deal of trust….only to be crushed in the end by all the guilt from the heinous torture he was forced to commit upon the poor, innocent goat herders that were mistakenly ripped from their fields by the CIA Black Ops during one of their famous raids, ordered by the President himself to do so, and committed suicide, obviously leaving a very detailed letter describing it all to same Berkeley professor in the hopes that the truth will finally be told and the Bush Regime will be brought to justice, and all those peaceful, innocent Muslims will be allowed to go back to helping the world grow in civilization and harmony like they were before Cheney had ordered their genocide.

Is that about right?
#64

On July 6th, 2008 at 2:47 pm, see-dubya said:

It almost sounds familiar.
#65

On July 6th, 2008 at 3:00 pm, brooklyn red said:

Wait… Churchill didn’t teach at Berkley, did he??
#66

On July 6th, 2008 at 3:09 pm, Chief RZ said:

Keep reporting on The Truth about these Muslims, maybe when the stories of hundreds who return to the battlefield and kill innocent children, then maybe, just maybe the NYT might run the story– on page 22.
#67

On July 6th, 2008 at 3:27 pm, ajmontana said:

it’s time for America to wake up and realize islam is not a religion it is a very dangerous cult. geeze, just based on how they treat women alone should be enough for it to be banned in the US.
imagine if gays were treated that way here? omg.
#68

On July 6th, 2008 at 3:33 pm, terrig said:

Liberal clowns like this Berkley dude are really good for a laugh. AJ-America will wake up but it may be too late.
#69

On July 6th, 2008 at 4:07 pm, right_on said:

Here is Jimma Cotter
al- Georgiqua at his Hamas book signing.

More appropos….
#70

On July 6th, 2008 at 4:27 pm, DagneyT said:

however, no one should be surprised at his feigned weakness from all the hunger and torture. Every single one of these thugs and losers have done the exact same thing when they got out. Every one of them is to claim torture, foul treatment and everything else.

No one is surprised. Al Qaeda’s been winning the PR war for years, thanks to their willing accomplices in our own MSM.

My hope would be that the minute one of these guys goes back, after the SCOTUS decision, and kills one of our guys on the battlefield, or plants a bomb on our streets, the genii (plural for genius?) who voted to give them habeas corpus rights even though they are not American citizens, will experience his/her first of many sleepless nights!!!
#71

On July 6th, 2008 at 4:47 pm, MNUSMCDavid said:

With the ACLU complicit in the future release of even more of these filth, does any one have a suggestion on how the people fight against the ACLU? I have my own ideas, but the “dream police” would take me away.
#72

On July 6th, 2008 at 6:19 pm, fulldroolcup said:

berkeleythurm, will you please get off yer frickin high horse?

No one denies that what went on at Abu Gharib was a disgrace. In fact, officers had their careers ruined, and some of the perps are still doing time for abusing the prisoners.

No one denies that some of the Gitmo prisoners were later found not to require further confinement — which is why they were released.

A few of those released begged not to be, as they got better food and accommodations than they had ever known. One guy went back to Afghanistan proud of all the english he learned, and that he learned to read while in prison. That sound like a horrible place to you?

BUT:

SOME of the released Gitmo prisoners went back onto the battlefield and were killed. Others turned themselves into suicide bomber and blew up Iraqis and , if I am not mistaken, American soldiers.

Most male prisoners taken by Al Qaeda been threatened,beaten, tortured or killed. There’s no evidence that the Al Qaeda leadership ever disciplines its followers for abusing prisoners.

Whatever abuses we may have perpetrated (and you seem to credulously believe liars like the guy discussed here), they are insignificant compared to those Al Qaeda and Taliban routinely inflict on their prisoners.

[P*******--edit by See-Dub, that shouldn't have gotten through the filter] like you seem to regard America as the bad guys, awhile granting our sworn enemies, who obey no laws, a complete pass. IOW we are worse or no better than they are!! Do you really believe that? If you do, why not do the Adam Gahdan thing and take up arms against your country?
#73

On July 6th, 2008 at 6:31 pm, PatriotRider said:

Because he/she/it is a __________. (Fill in the blank)
#74

On July 6th, 2008 at 7:34 pm, Die Hippie, Die said:

MEMORANDUM

TO: berkeleythurm, RedStateSkeptic, TheOtherSide, lgm, dakine, Rusty, Troll du jour, et. al.

RE: The Dog That Didn’t Bark

On March 20, 2003, coalition forces entered Iraq and fought a conventional war that end on April 30. In that campaign about 9,200 Iraqi combatants were killed. Coalition forces reported 139 U.S. KIA 33 UK KIA.

In that six week shooting war, we heard no reports of U.S. or other coalition forces torturing Iraqi EPWs. Surely there were many embedded journalists who would have noticed and reported any incidents. Why were none reported?

Could it be that the number of “torture” stories is directly related to the number of “pro bono” attorneys and microphones in proximity to the detainees?

’splain please.
#75

On July 6th, 2008 at 7:36 pm, Blind_Mule said:

PatriotRider said:
Because he/she/it is a __________. (Fill in the blank)

Pat?
#76

On July 6th, 2008 at 8:18 pm, frontierguy said:

You are all being too hard on berkeley. He has done his research…Who here can doubt information from a friend of a friend of a friend, the new york times, the associated press and amnesty international? We all know how students at berkeley, nyt, ap and amnesty would never try to harm reputations of US soldiers. -sarc-
#77

On July 6th, 2008 at 9:11 pm, berkeleythurm said:

This is great. Reading all of your posts has absolutely made my day. What can I say, you guys have it all figured out. “Everyone’s lying, exaggerating, politicizing, a p*****, a dumb***, communist, blah, blah, blah.” Reread your posts and I think you guys/gals will realize just how successful you were in turning this comment page into the Daily Kos yourselves.

Fulldroopcup,

I would like to respond to your post specifically. This isn’t about “being on a high horse” or feigning intellectualism or advocating cowardice when confronting terrorism in the world. The U.S. faces an unimaginable threat from Islamic terrorism. No doubt. Any person that volunteers to face off against that threat I have the highest respect for, and I have been fortunate to say that to a few soldiers including those at the recruiting center here in Berkeley. I’m also not going to sit and deny the failures (both political and moral) that have occurred on our part during the process of the War on Terrorism. That’s a sign of strength, not cowardice or lack of resolve. You implied that I was trying to make some moral symmetry between the U.S. armed forces and global jihadists. My objective is the exact opposite. Acknowledging abuses and misconduct is what distinguishes the United States from its adversaries. Not denying them, not running away from them; admitting them, correcting them, being accountable for them. That’s not happening and that’s why you have other countries, including allies of the U.S., laughing in our faces when our government points out Darfur, Zimbabwe, China, etc. The first thing that comes out of their mouthes as a retort: “Guantanamo, Kandahar, and Bagram…”
#78

On July 6th, 2008 at 9:58 pm, Die Hippie, Die said:

Acknowledging abuses and misconduct is what distinguishes the United States from its adversaries.

True. No problem with that.

Not denying them, not running away from them; admitting them, correcting them, being accountable for them.

Redundant, but yeah, yeah, yeah.

That’s not happening

Incorrect, wrong, untrue. It is happening. Maybe you just missed it.

and that’s why you have other countries, including allies of the U.S., laughing in our faces when our government points out Darfur, Zimbabwe, China, etc.

Wrong again and not just because countries don’t laugh, people do. When China laughs at us do we see its yellow, crooked teeth? Frankly, who gives a fig what Sweden thinks about how we’re managing the war?

The first thing that comes out of their mouthes as a retort: “Guantanamo, Kandahar, and Bagram…”

The first thing out of their hummus-holes is usually “Allahu Akbar”, followed by “Death to America,” or “I’ll keeeel you.” You just have to listen.
#79

On July 6th, 2008 at 10:00 pm, Die Hippie, Die said:

Should be “I’ll keeel you.” Mea culpa.
#80

On July 6th, 2008 at 10:02 pm, Die Hippie, Die said:

Arggggh!
#81

On July 6th, 2008 at 10:07 pm, BrianNY said:

#77 berkeleythurm said:

you have other countries, including allies of the U.S., laughing in our faces when our government points out Darfur, Zimbabwe, China, etc. The first thing that comes out of their mouthes as a retort: “Guantanamo, Kandahar, and Bagram…”

Which countries are you referring to? Chances are, I will be able to single out past actions on their part and “laugh right back in their faces.”

I don’t know who you are, but you sound like someone who didn’t lose very much when we were hit. If you did, then you apparently don’t have very much resolve.

I’m late to this fight, but when you have upwards to 10% of detainees (who the US Military themselves saw fit to release) being recaptured or killed on the battlefields of this war on terror, I don’t care who the Left thinks are innocent.

The reality is, you don’t know who is innocent or guilty; but it is frightening how willing the Left are to take the other side (the ones who want to see us either destroyed or dead) at their word.

How many of the repeat terror offenders (that were originally released from Gitmo) did the “compassionate Left” believe to be innocent?

From day one, 9/12/01, I have believed this to be a war for our survival. Not a war to try to impress misguided liberals across the globe.
#82

On July 6th, 2008 at 10:17 pm, Die Hippie, Die said:

The reality is, you don’t know who is innocent or guilty

Arrrrgh. The lawyers have infected you. There is no guilt or innocence. These are illegal combatants\battlefield detainees. They should never, ever be put on trial. We hold ‘em until hostilities cease. The only early release from their Caribbean paradise is at the end of a shoelace or belt.
#83

On July 6th, 2008 at 10:32 pm, Dimsdale said:

On July 6th, 2008 at 9:11 pm, berkeleythurm said:

Acknowledging abuses and misconduct is what distinguishes the United States from its adversaries.

Agreed, but it is the unrelenting “coverage” by the liberal MSM, well beyond the acknowledgement phase, that both aids the Islamofascists and harms the U.S.

How about running the beheading of Nick Berg as many times as we saw the “gentlemen” of Abu Ghraib with underwear on their heads? Sure, they both aid the terrorists, but at least the Berg murder will remind some (and wake up others) about the bestial nature of the vermin we are fighting.

Al Jazeera is the news laundering arm of Al Queda, just as CAIR is the reputation laundering arm of Al Q, Hamas etc., here in the U.S.

The NYTimes and their ilk are just slavish, liberal “useful idiots” for these groups, all too willing to put “unhelpful” stories and pix on the front page, while burying good news after the obit page.
#84

On July 6th, 2008 at 11:04 pm, BrianNY said:

#82 Hippie said:

Arrrrgh. The lawyers have infected you.

Not yet! I was referring to the Left’s contention that there are actually sweet- tea shop owners, innocently languishing in Club Gitmo, because the US Military has some sort of “free school lunch” sign-up quota; whereas the more Islamists they jail, the more our boys in camo benefit.
#85

On July 6th, 2008 at 11:06 pm, fulldroolcup said:

OK, berk: here’s a math puzzler for you:

How many innocent civilians are being killed in Darfur, by crazed Muslim tribesmen?

How many innocent civilians are being killed in Tibet, by the Chinese?

How many innocent civilians are being killed in Zimbabwe, by a satanical Marxist dictatorship that has driven out the whites and terrorized and immiserated the blacks?

Answer: by the millions in the first instance, and by the thousands in the second and third.

Now, YOU TELL US, since you claim to KNOW: how many innocent civilians have we killed in Khandahar, Guantanamo, and Bagram?

You better get goddam specific, pal.

You just don’t have logical problems with the idea of proportion, you obviously don’t recognize that there are NO parallels to attacks against civilians and incidents of WAR.

It’s guys like you , who have been nowhere and seen nothing, who shoot off your mouths about adult matters well beyond your ken.

Deep down, you’re shallow.
#86

On July 6th, 2008 at 11:26 pm, fulldroolcup said:

Let’s have a contest, folks:

Name the movie character berkeleythurm reminds you of.

I’m going with Upham in “Saving Private Ryan”.
#87

On July 7th, 2008 at 12:02 am, keystone said:

He was released and transported by U.S. military aircraft. Unbelievable.

BTW, how much fuel was used? What was carbon footprint for this flight? I guess it’s ok to kill the environment as long as it’s for the higher cause of setting a terrorist free.
#88

On July 7th, 2008 at 1:50 am, frontierguy said:

Berkely said: This is great. Reading all of your posts has absolutely made my day. What can I say, you guys have it all figured out. “Everyone’s lying, exaggerating, politicizing, a p*****, a dumb***, communist, blah, blah, blah.” Reread your posts and I think you guys/gals will realize just how successful you were in turning this comment page into the Daily Kos yourselves.

Berk, the difference between the majority of the posters on here and yourself is that the majority of us have military experience, work experience, to put it bluntly, worldly experience. I was in Afghanistan and I remember being there during searches of villages after our convoys would be attacked. Were these people put out? Yes. Were they humiliated or tortured? No. Berk, you need to understand things like…Amnesty Intl. according to their definitions of torture, they probably consider the mere search of a village as torture. You see, if they do not find things to gripe about, then they lose their argument to exist and demand funding (probably most of it from the U.S.).

Since you believe that all of this torture and mistreatment is going on…shouldn’t you be the most upset about this Sami guy hamming it up and demanding to be carried off in an ambulance, all obviously for dramatic effect? He is taking the attention away from the prisoners who really need your tears.
#89

On July 7th, 2008 at 7:51 am, JHSII said:

Because we don’t drink the liberal Kool-Aid about how evil, bad, and corrupt the US is, now berkeley says that we’re the Daily Kos. LMAO!! This is too rich.

Berkeleythurm is the perfect example of someone who lets others do their thinking for them.
Will Berkeley start asking questions about the lies of the liberals - or will Berkeley keep drinking the Kool-Aid?
#90

On July 8th, 2008 at 1:14 am, RetFireman said:

Any person that volunteers to face off against that threat I have the highest respect for

Then stop s***ting on them and besmirching their reputation. What you continue to post here and spew from your cake-hole in your everyday life shows the exact opposite, showing you to be a poser and a liar. You, and those like you, toss out that disclaimer as well as the, “I suuport the troops” constantly, always followed mby a “but”. Well, there is no butt for those that truly do feel that way, and who don’t need the disclaimer to try tro keep yourself and your statements relevant.

You have shown everyone here your true colors. You are about as pro-American and support the troops just about as much as the former pastor of Obama’s church.

not at all.