Posted on 01/10/2002 1:16:28 PM PST by GeneD
Taleban and al-Qaeda prisoners now being sent from Afghanistan to an American naval base in Cuba will face harsh conditions of detention.
Not all of them may be sent to the detention centre at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
There have been reports that they were to be sedated during the long flight to Cuba aboard US military cargo planes.
The aircraft carrying the prisoners may also be escorted by jet fighters at least some of the way.
Prisoners are to be chained to their seats and may be hooded during the trip. They will also be manacled to each other, and provided with portable urinals.
When they reach Guantanamo, they will be detained in cells with open chain-link walls exposed to the elements, concrete floors and wooden roofs.
Colonel Terry Carrico was quoted as describing them as "outdoor cells". If it rains, "there's a possibility they could get wet," he said.
Discomfort
US officials say the base is surrounded by mangrove swamps, salt marshes and dense bush - and the sea is shark-infested.
Prisoners will be kept apart most of the time, although they will be allowed out of their cells in small groups for meals, showers and some recreation.
They will be allowed to pray according to their faith.
But members of a movement that tried to prevent women working may be disconcerted to find that some of their guards are women.
"We have no intention of making it comfortable," Marine Brigadier-General Michael Lehnert told Reuters news agency. "It will be humane."
Hundreds of Marines and military police have been flown to Guantanamo - an isolated US base in Fidel Castro's Cuba - to prepare the compound, which is being expanded to take hundreds of prisoners.
US Marines landed in Guantanamo during the Spanish-American war in 1898 and the base was established under a 1903 treaty.
The US Government wants military tribunals to try captured terrorists.
The trials are expected to occur outside the US.
American officials have named al-Qaeda and Taleban leaders killed or captured as frustration grows that some senior Taleban figures are reportedly slipping through the net.
Among those who have not been questioned by the US military are three former Taleban ministers who turned themselves into the new Afghan authorities - only to be allowed to return to their homes.
The most important is former Justice Minister Mullah Nuruddin Turabi - known to be close to Taleban leader Mullah Omar - former Defence Minister Mullah Ubaidullah and Industry Minister Mullah Saadudin.
US officials are eager to question the three, who they believe may have vital clues about the whereabouts of Mullah Omar and Osama Bin Laden - the leader of the al-Qaeda network accused of orchestrating the 11 September suicide attacks in the United States.
US officials say many more al-Qaeda and Taleban leaders are either still at large, or it is unknown whether they are dead or alive.
The hunt continues for Bin Laden himself - as well as Mullah Omar who is believed to have escaped by motorbike last week as thousands of Afghan soldiers closed in on his suspected hideout.
Also on the wanted list are many more of Bin Laden's top lieutenants who are believed to have evaded capture. They include Ayman al-Zawahri, the Egyptian Islamic Jihad leader who is Bin Laden's close adviser and personal doctor.
Other prominent figures believed to be still alive include Shaikh Saiid, Bin Laden's financial chief; Abu Zubaydah, a Saudi who is a planner of al-Qaeda operations; Saif al-Adil, an Egyptian who is Bin Laden's security chief; Abu Mohamed al-Masri, an Egyptian who ran some al-Qaeda training camps and Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, a Kuwaiti who is al-Qaeda's spokesman.
I'd love another Caribbean beach resort. Fine Cuban stogies, palm trees, latina women, baseball....does it get any better?
US officials say the base is surrounded by mangrove swamps, salt marshes and dense bush - and the sea is shark-infested.Not to mention the man eating plants and killer bees and leeches the size of cabbages.
And of course Janet Reno should be put in charge of security.
I don't know what Castro thinks of all this, but one thing I know for sure. He does not want these guys.
No, put her with the sharks.
I'll say it then.
I'm sorry the prisoners are being treated this way. I really am. Yeah..that's the ticket..I'm terribly sorry they're being treated this way. And my wife, Morgan Fairchild, feels the same way. We're both sorry. In fact, we'd go and protest this, but we're on the way out. To dinner. In Australia...yeah...that's the ticket...Australia....
OK, lets give it a try. Nominating:
At least it would be humane
Well, you started this, I'm just having fun.
The problem with the analogy is that there are no good candidates for Hitler.
For Goebbels, I think Al Jazzira (sp?) will work.
Sharon already said he likes being Benes.
And, of course, don't forget Clinton for Chamberlain, and Rumsfield for MacArthur.
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