U.S. Military Unveils Huge New Prison in Afghanistan

[Echo In Light]

by Feraidoon Khwazoon

KABUL - The U.S. military has announced the opening of a new prison on Bagram Air Base. The prison, costing 60 million dollars, will hold up to 1,100 prisoners at any one time.

A US captain is silhouetted as he looks on during a media tour of Bagram prison, north of Kabul, on November 15, 2009. Eager to dispel its image as a rights abuser after many "war on terror" prison scandals, the US has opened a huge, new Afghan jail that critics say still falls far short of basic legal standards.

(AFP/Massoud Hossaini)U.S. Brig. Gen. Mark Martins, a U.S. Army lawyer who undertook an examination this year of Afghan and American prisons, said that the prison would be handed over to the Afghan government, though it is unclear when that handover will take place.

Last week, reporters were taken on a tour of the facility, a dramatic move by the military, as no journalists - and few visitors of any kind - were allowed inside the old prison. The tour was part of a U.S. effort to show more transparency. Washington has been accused of a variety of human rights violations against Afghan detainees at Bagram.

http://www.commondreams.org/print/49907

[Echo In Light]

1. Why was no explanation given as to why this was locked the other day?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=7118604&mesg_id=7118604

[Echo In Light]

7. I'd still like to know why the prior thread on this was locked???

... I mean, look at it

[Fumesucker]

2. Caging human beings is something America has more experience at than any other nation..

We are the world's leaders at putting people in cages, with 5% of the population and fully 25% of the prisoners.

We're number one.

[ixion]

3. ah, isn't that precious... we built them a prison... how liberating!

:sarcasm:

[zipplewrath]

4. Give it a name

DU should start a naming contest for the new prison.

Gitmo East?
Abu Ghraib II?
Bush Library Annex?
Hop in Chains?

[MadHound]

5. My big question is why hasn't Obama closed down Bagram prison,

You know, the old one, the one that makes Gitmo look like a preschool? Oh, yeah, gotta have someplace in the world we can torture people.

[atreides1]

6. My Take

Probably because the same generals who advised him that sending 30,000 more American troops to Afghanistan is a good idea, also told him that closing Bagram would threaten the safety of US military personnel.