Tom Davis' Definition of "A Few Innocent People"

Guantanamo: I keep reading that almost no one there has been charged of a crime, and that those handed over to foreign governments almost invariably are released very quickly *** Besides the morality issue, isn't this going to haunt U.S. foreign policy for a long time? ***

This was Davis' reply: 

I've been to Guantanamo, and there has been no consistent policy on how to deal with enemy combatants. Bear in mind that many of these prisoners are dangerous -- and if released, would dedicate themselves to killing Americans and destroying our way of life. On the other hand, I'm sure a few innocent people slipped in to our grasp. The one thing we can do is move up their adjudication dates, so they don't languish in prison.

Today's Post updates the numbers on the people we've kept behind bars without charging them, or knowing them to be wholly innocent. 

LONDON -- More than a fifth of the approximately 385 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been cleared for release but may have to wait months or years for their freedom because U.S. officials are finding it increasingly difficult to line up places to send them***

Foreign governments don't want to deal with repatriation headaches, or because of the bad reputation we've given to these prisoners, calling them the "worst of the worst."

So, let's see what Tom Davis must mean by "a few innocent people slipped into our grasp."

"Since February, the Pentagon has notified about 85 inmates or their attorneys that they are eligible to leave after being cleared by military review panels."

The story tells us that the "Pentagon has reduced the population at Guantanamo by roughly half since the peak of 680 people in May 2003, generally by sending prisoners back to their native countries."  So that's about 340 innocent people to add to the list of those now waiting to be released.  [Note: the writer of the story is a little careless with numbers, so don't try for precise math]

"Of the roughly 385 still incarcerated, U.S. officials said they intend to eventually put 60 to 80 on trial and free the rest." 

So of the original 680, 60 to 80 may be put on trial.  That sounds like 600 were wrongly imprisoned.

"Only two people have been charged under a military tribunal system approved by Congress last year."

Why do we think that the 60 to 80 number is a rosy estimate?

The option suggested by some human rights groups is that the Bush administration could speed things up by asking the United Nations or another international body for help.

  Manfred Nowak, an Austrian law professor who serves as the U.N. special monitor on torture, said European allies and other countries would continue to duck requests to accept released prisoners as long as the U.S. government approaches them separately. An international commission responsible for finding a solution, he said, might carry more weight.

"If the U.S. is willing to do something to close down Guantanamo, then it should be done in a cooperative manner with the international community," Nowak said. "It's a question of burden-sharing. Otherwise, every individual country that the U.S. approaches says, 'Why us?' "

I would guess the U.S. is unwilling to turn the problem over to an international tribunal or agency, who might find the U.S. had violated international law and owed those wrongly taken large sums of money.

Meanwhile, Tom Davis' "few" seems to be in excess of 600 out of 680.

Hey, Tom, could you lend me a "few" dollars until payday?

Comments