Posted on Apr 10, 2019
My Father Was Killed on 9/11 When I Was Five, But What I Experienced at Guantánamo Bay Did Not...
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MY COMMENT:
Dear Jessica, I am so very sorry for your loss. On 9/11/2001, my oldest son was in school, a first grader at the time and six years old. It was the first day of pre-school for my second son, 3. My third son (and I have four now and one daughter) who was not born but conceived, was about 5 months along. He was born on January 23, 2002, a few days before I left all of them and my wife, my job, my friends, my colleagues for the US Army detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. As a Medical Service Corps captain, I was the ranking US Army Medical Department officer with the Joint Detainee Operations Group (JDOG for short), Joint Task Force 160. My boss was the Camp X-Ray Commandant. My job was coordination of good guy and bad guy care, environmental and preventive medical services to the camp and liaison to the detention hospital, Navy Fleet Hospital 20. I am disappointed that not once in your article did you mention the strength, dedication and professionalism of the US armed forces serving our great nation and performing some of the most difficult tasks imaginable among at least some of the detainees who would just as soon slit your throat as look at you. Your pain, my pain, the pain of other victims, military and civilian agency families and loved ones does not equate with the pain and suffering of the unlawful combatant Islamists held at Gitmo now, nor the 731 who have been released. Not ONE of them was executed, beheaded, blown up, hacked to death, dragged naked and lifeless through the streets, drowned or burned alive; all things our enemies have done to us and/or our allies. Detainees receive FREE Qurans, prayer rugs/beads, halal and special Muslim holy holiday meals, white robes, beards, directions to Mecca, services of US military Muslim chaplains, world class health, vision and dental care, recreation, video games, DVD's, TV, library and sports. There is no moral comparison between Gitmo and how our enemies treat their captives. It is too bad you could not acknowledge the sacrifice, suffering and dedication of those who kept the released 731 and the 41 still there, safe, secure and healthy. None of us tortured anyone, ever. Was there abuse? Yes. But it was limited and dealt with. Only the CIA were trained in Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (EIT). No DoD personnel, military or civilian were ever trained in EIT, nor administered such. We performed our duties with professionalism and distinction. It is unfortunate that the powers that be can't seem to get out of their own way with regard to the pace of the pre-trial proceedings, but that's American justice for you, more concerned with letting a guilty person go than pronouncing an innocent person guilty. Just keep in mind, we are not the enemy, unlawful combatant Islamists who want to kill us are the enemy, and until or unless they no longer have the means or will to kill us, we must defend ourselves. Gitmo is a small but essential part of how we win the Global War on Terror. The world watches to see whether or not we get this right. I wish you, and all of us directly affected by the events of 9/11/2001 Peace. Sincerely, Montgomery J. Granger, Major, US Army, Retired. Author, "Saving Grace at Guantanamo Bay: A Memoir of a Citizen Warrior."
Dear Jessica, I am so very sorry for your loss. On 9/11/2001, my oldest son was in school, a first grader at the time and six years old. It was the first day of pre-school for my second son, 3. My third son (and I have four now and one daughter) who was not born but conceived, was about 5 months along. He was born on January 23, 2002, a few days before I left all of them and my wife, my job, my friends, my colleagues for the US Army detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. As a Medical Service Corps captain, I was the ranking US Army Medical Department officer with the Joint Detainee Operations Group (JDOG for short), Joint Task Force 160. My boss was the Camp X-Ray Commandant. My job was coordination of good guy and bad guy care, environmental and preventive medical services to the camp and liaison to the detention hospital, Navy Fleet Hospital 20. I am disappointed that not once in your article did you mention the strength, dedication and professionalism of the US armed forces serving our great nation and performing some of the most difficult tasks imaginable among at least some of the detainees who would just as soon slit your throat as look at you. Your pain, my pain, the pain of other victims, military and civilian agency families and loved ones does not equate with the pain and suffering of the unlawful combatant Islamists held at Gitmo now, nor the 731 who have been released. Not ONE of them was executed, beheaded, blown up, hacked to death, dragged naked and lifeless through the streets, drowned or burned alive; all things our enemies have done to us and/or our allies. Detainees receive FREE Qurans, prayer rugs/beads, halal and special Muslim holy holiday meals, white robes, beards, directions to Mecca, services of US military Muslim chaplains, world class health, vision and dental care, recreation, video games, DVD's, TV, library and sports. There is no moral comparison between Gitmo and how our enemies treat their captives. It is too bad you could not acknowledge the sacrifice, suffering and dedication of those who kept the released 731 and the 41 still there, safe, secure and healthy. None of us tortured anyone, ever. Was there abuse? Yes. But it was limited and dealt with. Only the CIA were trained in Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (EIT). No DoD personnel, military or civilian were ever trained in EIT, nor administered such. We performed our duties with professionalism and distinction. It is unfortunate that the powers that be can't seem to get out of their own way with regard to the pace of the pre-trial proceedings, but that's American justice for you, more concerned with letting a guilty person go than pronouncing an innocent person guilty. Just keep in mind, we are not the enemy, unlawful combatant Islamists who want to kill us are the enemy, and until or unless they no longer have the means or will to kill us, we must defend ourselves. Gitmo is a small but essential part of how we win the Global War on Terror. The world watches to see whether or not we get this right. I wish you, and all of us directly affected by the events of 9/11/2001 Peace. Sincerely, Montgomery J. Granger, Major, US Army, Retired. Author, "Saving Grace at Guantanamo Bay: A Memoir of a Citizen Warrior."
My Father Was Killed on 9/11 When I Was Five, But What I Experienced at Guantánamo Bay Did Not...
Posted from commondreams.org
Guantanamo Bay
War on Terror
9/11
Law
Posted 5 y ago
Responses: 3
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Well, color me surprised. Not really. A Brown University graduate who doesn't like Gitmo. Writing about Camp Delta/X-ray and restorative justice in the same piece is just a little too social warrior princess for me. My Soldiers served honorably there in 2004-05. Not one of them ever mentioned anything about torture, nor did the other Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airman that I worked with.
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It's 18 years after the attack, and yet these detainees have not yet been tried. It's a travesty of justice based on that alone, and regardless of any allegations of torture.
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Capt Jeff S.
Capt Gregory Prickett - They were men of military age picked up wandering around a battlefield and most are not originally from the local areas they were picked up in, let alone the countries they were picked up in. Figure the odds that these men were just out vacationing in a foreign country, walking around the desert in the middle of a war zone and just so happened to be in the same vicinity where our troops were getting shot at... The Law of Common Sense tells you they had no business being there and the only plausible explanation is that they were there to kill American soldiers.
You know what's more deterrent than dying a martyr's death and getting to be with 72 virgins? Wasting away for the rest of your life rotting in a jail cell because you were a suspected terrorist attacking our troops. They were not part of any recognized government's military, but rather they were there representing a radical Islamic ideology dedicated to the destruction of the West (both civilian and military). The Geneva Convention was written to cover the military forces of recognized foreign governments; it does not apply to terrorists. And since GTMO is technically not on American soil and it is not a diplomatic outpost, those terrorist suspects held there are in limbo.
IF it were up to me, I'd let the Prisoners rot at GTMO. They had no business being where they were. Let their incarceration be a message to all future terrorist wannabes that they will not get their martyrs death on the battlefield and that they will rot for the rest of their miserable lives if they attack American forces. Frankly, they have it too good over there.
You know what's more deterrent than dying a martyr's death and getting to be with 72 virgins? Wasting away for the rest of your life rotting in a jail cell because you were a suspected terrorist attacking our troops. They were not part of any recognized government's military, but rather they were there representing a radical Islamic ideology dedicated to the destruction of the West (both civilian and military). The Geneva Convention was written to cover the military forces of recognized foreign governments; it does not apply to terrorists. And since GTMO is technically not on American soil and it is not a diplomatic outpost, those terrorist suspects held there are in limbo.
IF it were up to me, I'd let the Prisoners rot at GTMO. They had no business being where they were. Let their incarceration be a message to all future terrorist wannabes that they will not get their martyrs death on the battlefield and that they will rot for the rest of their miserable lives if they attack American forces. Frankly, they have it too good over there.
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Capt Gregory Prickett
Capt Jeff S. - OK, if the only plausible explanation is that they were there to kill American soldiers, then prove it in a court, beyond a reasonable doubt, and then you can hold them for the rest of their lives. Or, in the case of the ones this article was specifically talking about, prove that they were behind or provided support for the 9/11 attacks. Do either, and I will be there with you calling for their continued imprisonment.
Second, the argument that since they are at Gitmo, the Constitution doesn't apply was heard and rejected by SCOTUS. Not just once, but repeatedly SCOTUS has held that the detainees do have rights.
So if it is such "common sense" that they are guilty, you should have no problem proving it.
Second, the argument that since they are at Gitmo, the Constitution doesn't apply was heard and rejected by SCOTUS. Not just once, but repeatedly SCOTUS has held that the detainees do have rights.
So if it is such "common sense" that they are guilty, you should have no problem proving it.
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Capt Jeff S.
Capt Gregory Prickett - I'd wager to bet that most of them can not adequately explain what they were doing in a foreign country walking around a battlefield where our troops were getting shot at. They espouse a religion that encourages them to lie if it is to save their life or that of their family and friends. How do you know when they're telling you the truth? You don't. And given the threat they pose, I believe it is prudent to err on the side of caution. Again, common sense ought to tell you to stay away from a battlefield and if you aren't from the local area, you have no business being there. There is only one other reason Muslim men of military age would be there... And whether or not they killed any of our troops or picked up a weapon, they went there with the intent to fight us and we can't let that go.
If you understand anything about Islam, they despise weakness. And releasing them only encourages them to bring the fight back to us. Many of those Obama released are back in the fight. His release of the GTMO prisoners without informing Congress sufficiently in advance is treason in my book.
If you understand anything about Islam, they despise weakness. And releasing them only encourages them to bring the fight back to us. Many of those Obama released are back in the fight. His release of the GTMO prisoners without informing Congress sufficiently in advance is treason in my book.
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Capt Gregory Prickett
Capt Jeff S. - You do realize that they don't have to explain anything, that under the Fifth Amendment they don't have to testify, don't you? The prosecution bears the burden of proof. Second, your comments on Islam are BS. We've got Muslim soldiers fighting and dying on our side. One of my good friends and former co-worker at the police dept. is Muslim--he's also an Army vet, artillery, with a Top Secret clearance, who had been assigned to an 8-inch battalion with a tactical nuke mission. He's protected my back on numerous occasions. Next, our Constitution does not allow us to discriminate on the basis of religion, as you seem to espouse.
If you want to hold those individuals, then prove up the case against them.
If you want to hold those individuals, then prove up the case against them.
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