Former Gitmo guard recalls abuse, climate of fear

Former Gitmo guard recalls abuse, climate of fear

m.apnews.com

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - Army Pvt. Brandon Neely was scared when he took Guantanamo's first shackled detainees off a bus. Told to expect vicious terrorists, he grabbed a trembling, elderly detainee and ground his face into the cement - the first of a range of humiliations he says he participated in and witnessed as the prison was opening for business.

Neely has now come forward in this final year of the detention center's existence, saying he wants to publicly air his feelings of guilt and shame about how some soldiers behaved as the military scrambled to handle the first alleged al-Qaida and Taliban members arriving at the isolated U.S. Navy base.

His account, one of the first by a former guard describing abuses at Guantanamo, describes a chaotic time when soldiers lacked clear rules for dealing with detainees who were denied many basic comforts. He says the circumstances changed quickly once monitors from the International Committee of the Red Cross arrived.

(visit the link for the full news article)

This is a very interesting perspective. You only ever hear about this from pundits on TV, and yet we've thus far heard very little from former Iraq war vets, and nothing at all from the soldiers who guarded and participated in this acts, until now.

His testimony is huge news as far as I'm concerned. This person, who participated in acts of abuse and torture, now feels the weight of his action upon his heart. It is not just about the people who were tortured, because this tortures both parties involved. These goes to show how much of a failure this policy is.

m.apnews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 15-2-2009 by projectvxn]

I just don't buy the story. I don't think they would put a private with terrorists. I think they would put more experienced people there.

Originally posted by MBF
I just don't buy the story. I don't think they would put a private with terrorists. I think they would put more experienced people there.

You have too much hope/expectation for humans in the command position. The human history teaches again and again that usually is not that way.

reply to post by MBF


You don't have to buy it, but this guy has personnel records I'm sure he checks out when you go looking for them. They put privates at Abu Graib. They put privates in almost every single place imaginable. Because they are fresh off BT and eager to please.