WHAT IS THE DEAL WITH GUANTANAMO BAY?

Why does everyone get so emotional about Guantanamo Bay? What is the U.S Government doing there? Are they really treating their prisoners as inhumanely as the mainstream media makes it out to be? These are a few of the questions that I asked myself before venturing into reading a few articles on the detainee camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The subject interested me first and foremost due to the fact that I am Cuban, and second of all because it is so hidden, and not very mainstream at all. I think at first, it was in a sense "mainstream" however the government quickly hushed up the media and kept it under wraps is it has done on many occasions. Here is a video compilation of pictures taken at the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay to give you an idea of what I am talking about...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WS0CrmHYLFI

Starting in the beginning of October of 2001, the U.S has brought 775 detainees to the prison in Guantanamo Bay, interestingly 420 have been released without being charged with a crime. At this time there are approximately 300 prisoners being held there, of which more than a fifth are cleared for release. The U.S government has run into a problem. No one wants the prisoners in their country. So many of the prisoners remain in the prison camps for months and in some cases years after they are cleared for release. Thus, our government has received negative criticism claiming that some prisoners are being held for unjust periods of time without being charged with a crime. Well maybe that is true, but if you ran a country, would you allow these men into your country? I wouldn't.

Why did our government house these prisoners in a U.S military base in Cuba? The answer is simple, the detainees have different rights, more importantly less rights than if they were held in U.S soil. The United States Department of Defense and the CIA chose this site for those exact reasons. They knew the prisoners were not to be treated as prisoners in the U.S, and they knew they could get away with it. On September 6, 2006 George Bush confirmed FOR THE FIRST TIME that the CIA had held "high-value detainees" in secret interrogation centers, such as Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. In these "secret interrogation centers" torture is used in order to extract information from the detainees, such as waterboarding. Waterboarding is a form of torture that can be dated back to as early as the Spanish Inquisition days, used to obtain information from a person. The person is tied down face up, and water is poured overtheir breathing passages, which emulates the process of drowning. With the thought of death on their mind, the person will talk or give information. It is highly controversial, and can cause psychological damage, and even death to the victim. Supporters of the controversial techniques maintain that the Third Geneva Convention does not apply to Taliban or Al-Queda fighters, but only applies to uniformed fighters of a recognized government. This idea basically gives the U.S Government the right to treat the prisoners with no decency. The combination of the use of torture, inhumane conditions, captivity for unspecified amounts of time without being charged with a crime, and other breaches of human rights have stirred much controversy between our government and other groups. Mainly human rights groups, have been speaking out loud, and have even put on protests capturing the attention of thousands, and more importantly citizen journalists and the mainstream media. For instanceChristopher Hitchens even subjected himself to waterboarding to make a point that it is inhumane. He didn't even last a minute, watch...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l34Tx9oAHZo .

What does the future hold for Guantanamo Bay? Barack Obama during his campaign referred to Guantanamo Bay as a "sad chapter in American history" and mad a promise to the American people that he would shut it down if elected President. Here is a 60 Minutes clip of Barack Obama talking about what he intends to do and why he intends to do it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQXZoM__vU0 .Which would mean that the detainees held there would be brought up for trial. What their outcome, and where the prisoners will go if they are released are questions that no one seems to be able to answer. I think that it will be a few years before the inmates of the prison camp will be free to live their lives. We will see if Obama can keep his promise on that issue. Personally, I think it will be much harder to shut it down than he can imagine.