The Truth About Torture: Part Four

Please play the video clip before reading the following post.

There is no argument with President Bush during the first twenty-six seconds of this video clip taken from Wednesday’s speech. It’s what follows that has to be debunked.

"They are provided the same quality of medical care as the medical service members who guard them."

Remember Juma Al Dossary from yesterday? All I need to ask you is one question: If one of our service members were given a tainted blood transfusion and as a result had severe stomach problems that made them go to the bathroom up to fourteen times a day, what are the odds he or she would be evacuated to a military hospital on American soil?

"The international committee of the Red Cross has the opportunity to meet privately with all who are held there."

It’s been nearly two months and Al Dossary is still waiting for independent medical experts to arrive in Guantanamo Bay to give him a check up and verify that 1.) our personnel did not purposely make him ill due to the blood transfusion he received on March 11, and 2.) does not carry the HIV virus.

"After the Organization For Security and Co-operation in Europe came to visit, one of its delegation members called Guantanamo a model prison where people are treated better than in prisons in his own country."

Alain Grignard, the deputy head of Brussels’ federal police anti-terrorism unit, did make that remark when he visited the Guantanamo Bay prison in late February/early March of this year. However, President Bush and his administration failed to mention that Grignard also stated that holding people for many years without telling them what would happen to them is in itself "mental torture". You can read the full text of the article here, here and here.

Grignard’s comments were made less than a month after the UN called for the closure of the facility. Keep in mind that Belgian prisons are not subject to Common Article 3 of the Geneva Convention, so this talking point made by President Bush to prove that detainees are being held in a humane manner is not only disingenuous, but also isn’t an apples to apples comparison to similar prisons unless we’re talking about the similarities between Guantanamo Bay and the "Salt Mine" in Kabul or Camp Nama in Baghdad.

To be continued... 

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