Guantanamo revisited

When he was a young man, Musaab al-Madhwani was arrested in September 2002 by Pakistani authorities in Karachi. Before he was sent to Guantánamo he was “in another prison in Afghanistan, under the ground, [and] it was very dark … It was impossible that I could get out of there alive. I was really beaten and tortured,” he told a prisoner review board.

The U.S. alleges that Madhwani, a Yemeni, is an Al-Qaeda operative. However, in 2010, when U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan reviewed the case, he ruled that Madhwani, “young, unemployed, undereducated,” was, “at best, a low-level al-Qaeda figure” who apparently never “even finished his weapons training,” never “fired a weapon in battle” and never “planned, participated in or even knew of any terrorist plots.”

Madhwani is one of 49 Guantánamo prisoners who are not cleared for release but who are also not charged with crimes — the forever prisoners who may well be transferred to the U.S.

Some of the men alluded to in the al-Jazeera article have been held for as long as 14 years. Many have dossiers with evidence provided by dubious sources and bearing the note, "These statements are included without consideration of veracity, accuracy, or reliability.” Many of the informants got rich providing information about the 'terrorists' close at hand.

Held without recourse. Sold based on uncorroborated information. It is a travesty that reflects poorly on the United States ... for anyone who gives a shit about what that might any longer mean.

If they're guilty, then by all means nail their hides to the barnyard door. Prove it. Play the Texas card if you must. But do not smear the flag with patriotic bullshit and politically-expedient scare tactics.