And now
for some words about Guantanamo not written or spoken by Rumsfeld:
These would be words written by someone whom both Bush and Rumsfeld deemed the worst of the worst, someone who was "sold" to the Americans. Meet Moazzam Begg, father of three, aka prisoner # 00558, captured in Kandahar, sleeping in bed. For three and a half years, Begg enjoyed the ameneties of Bagram (including witnessing detainees being killed) and Guantanamo (including torture) and he has something to say about it.
Some people think that Amnesty International's description of the camp as the "gulag of our times" is too harsh. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, for instance, recently rejected the "gulag" label, telling conventions of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion that Guantanamo is more akin to a holiday resort, complete with a volleyball court, basketball court, soccer field and library.
During my years of incarceration, I never once encountered the things Rumsfeld mentioned and never met anyone who had. What people don't seem to understand about Guantanamo is that the prisoners there who protest their innocence have no way to prove it. The principle "innocent until proven guilty" is turned on its head. Everyone's guilty without charges, convicted without a trial. That is why it's like a gulag — even if it's one that provides "Harry Potter" books for reading material (as Rumsfeld noted).
These would be words written by someone whom both Bush and Rumsfeld deemed the worst of the worst, someone who was "sold" to the Americans. Meet Moazzam Begg, father of three, aka prisoner # 00558, captured in Kandahar, sleeping in bed. For three and a half years, Begg enjoyed the ameneties of Bagram (including witnessing detainees being killed) and Guantanamo (including torture) and he has something to say about it.
