Guantanamo takes on look of permanency

[rainbow4321]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GUANTANAMO_THREE_YEARS?SITE=TXSAE&SECTION=INTERNATIONAL&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


The U.S. prison camp for terror suspects is taking on a look of permanence as the mission marks its third year Tuesday, with plans for a new $25 million prison facility, $1.7 million psychiatric wing and a permanent guard force.

Most of the 550 prisoners from 42 countries no longer are considered of significant intelligence value, but many swept up in the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan aren't expected to be freed anytime soon - some because of stalled legal proceedings, others because they allegedly still pose a threat to the United States or its allies.

Also planned are a $1.7 million psychiatric wing - there have been 34 reported suicide attempts since the prison opened - and a $4 million security fence that could reduce the need for some 300 infantry troops.

"Guantanamo has become an icon of lawlessness ... dangerous to us all," London-based Amnesty International said in a statement marking the third anniversary

[Benhurst]

1. Guantanamo is the jewel in the crown of the Bush Crime Family's

fascist state.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[proudbluestater]

2. The Supreme Court ruled last summer that people cannot be kept

there for an indefinite period of time with no representation and no due process. This is the response of the regime to the highest court in the land. We CAN'T HEAR YOU! We will do what we damn well please.

A small group of very disturbed individuals has been allowed to cynically hijack this country. This group thumbs its nose at the Congress of the United States, the United States Supreme Court, the Geneva Conventions and all type of international law.

For that, they will celebrate their latest "victory" with such events as a Commander in Chief Ball, spending 50 million dollars.

God save America. I think we've lost the right to ask for his blessings.

[AlbizuX]

3. you know...

I think this is an insult to the Cuban people...by what right does the United States occupy this piece of Cuban land...and seek to make a permanent torture prison on the land?

I think the Cubans should do some activism on the other side of the prison...start bringing some attention to the fact that this type of abuse should not be taking place, let alone on their soil.

[rainbow4321]

4. And we will probably occupy the rest...

of the island before the shrub regime is done...

[Just Me]

5. Camp Psy-ops.

Psychological warfare: take human beings and brainwash them (using psychic torture, physical if necessary), turning them into our new branch of intelligence.

[cosmicdot]

6. another $25 million, I'm guessing to KBR/Halliburton?

KBR = Kellogg, Brown & Root = Halliburton's construction division/subsidiary

I'm not that 'up' on this ... just googling and joggling my memory ... but, how many times are they going to award contracts to Halliburton/KBR, or any other corporation, to build at Guantanamo?

from a cache Miami Herald article dated August 24, 2003

"NO-BID CONTRACTS

The contractor is Kellogg, Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Vice President Dick Cheney's former company, Texas-based Halliburton. The watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense says the subsidiary received $1.3 billion in government business last year -- much of it, like this, without having to enter a bid.

Halliburton referred questions to Navy public affairs officer John Peters, who said via e-mail that Camp Five will have about 24,000 square feet when completed in mid-2004. It was part of a $25 million task order issued June 6."

http://216.239.57.104/search?q=cache:-3MODGsM95EJ:www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/6604462.htm+%2425+million+contract+detention+cells++2003+&hl=en

this site has the Herald's article, but titles it "Camp Five"
http://www.backspace.com/notes/2003/09/15/x.html

Waxman continued, "Halliburton appears to be one of the main companies profiting from the war on terror. In May 2001, Brown & Root was awarded a five-year, $300 million contract to provide logistical support to the Navy. As of August 2002, the Navy had reportedly given Brown & Root $53 million in work orders over the past 15 months, including $37 million to build detention cells at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where terrorist suspects captured in Afghanistan are being held."

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0503/05273db.htm


As of April 9, 2002, construction of Camp Delta had already been approved and funded with construction having already begun at Radio Range, approximately five miles from Camp X-Ray. Construction of the new detention facility officially began on February 27, 2002. The first 408 new detention units were completed by the middle of April, and done by Brown & Root Services, as well as Navy SeaBees and Marine engineers.

~snip~

Camp 5
Camp 5 differs from other camps at Camp Delta in that it is a multi-winged complex made of concrete and steel. It cost $31 million to build, is designed to hold 100 detainees and was opened in May 2004.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/guantanamo-bay_delta.htm

Judged By The Company You Keep
By Diana Rogers

05/21/03:

HALLIBURTON; Kellogg, Brown and Root/KBR (Subsidiary)

Awarded $7 Billion-Umbrella (without set limits) US contract for Iraq (2003). Awarded a $9.7 million US contract to build an additional 204-cell detention camp at the US Naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The exclusive logistics provider for US Navy and Army with a 10-yr No Lid and No Cost US contract, already estimated at $830 Million. Paid $2 million by US to reinforce the U.S. embassy in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Awarded $2.2 Billion US contract to support US troops in the Balkans. Awarded US contracts totaling more than $624 Million from October 2000 to March 2003."

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article3482.htm

Cong. Waxman's letter to Rumsfeld dated April 30, 2003
http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/Waxman2Rummy.html


perhaps the detainees are only a smoke screen to build a base from which to launch an invasion of Cuba? sounds familiar from the 60s, except we were monitoring the then Soviet Union activities, which we saw as a threat to our security ~ or, simply, boondoggle raid on our tax dollars (par for the course)

a $1.7 million psychiatric wing ???

[rainbow4321]

7. "a $1.7 million psychiatric wing"

Given all the overall number of <cough> "suicides"--and now "attempted suicides"--we have seen under this regime, we're going to need alot more psych units than just at Gitmo.

[NYC]

9. Cosmicdot, that may be it.

...perhaps the detainees are only a smoke screen to build a base from which to launch an invasion of Cuba?...

I had been thinking it was a strategy for enriching Halliburton (KBR), but the permanent base may be the underlying reason.

[Rose Siding]

10. Oh, great. A facility for the interrogation psychologists

And how much will be spent on new psychiatric wings in US cities?

spookier and spookier

[sally343434]

11. Bush will see to it they will never be freed alive

> Most of the 550 prisoners from 42 countries no longer are
> considered of significant intelligence value, but many swept up in
> the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan aren't expected to be freed anytime
> soon - some because of stalled legal proceedings, others because
> they allegedly still pose a threat to the United States or
> its allies.

Those poor wretched souls. The only "threat" they represent is that, if they are released, the truth about the horrors they have endured in Bush's concentration camps would start to come out.

I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that Bush will end up killing all of them if he can't keep them locked up for the remainder of their lives.

[JohnLocke]

12. Khephra (nt).

[struggle4progress]

13. kick for the gulag