Treat Guantanamo Detainees in the United States

MY COMMENT:

I served under then Navy Captain and nurse, Shimkus, a thoughtful and intelligent medical officer and leader, in early 2002 as the ranking US Army Medical Department officer with the Joint Detainee Operations Group, Joint Task Force 160, for which Cpt. Shimkus was the JTF Surgeon. I don't disagree with now Professor Shimkus in either his analysis or conclusion that the unlawful combatant detainees at the US military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are entitled to care equal to that of US military personnel. That is the spirit of the Geneva Conventions that we were directed to follow by then Secretary of Defense, Don Rumsfeld. However, bringing accused war criminals to the continental US for care could bring with it unintended political and legal consequences, up to and possibly including successful application to the writ of Habeas Corpus. If granted this could lead to years more of legal wrangling. I understand that the Professor, speaking from his point of view, wishes to "do no further harm," but what exactly are we talking about? In the old days, and I hear even recently, if there was a specialist or special medical equipment required, even and MRI, they were brought to "The Island." There is a fixed Navy hospital there that was verboten to detainees. That's right, under JTF SOP (Standard Operating Procedure), no detainee was ever allowed to enter the Navy hospital at Gitmo, ever. Even a portable MRI machine was set up OUTSIDE the hospital for detainee use. Then Cpt. Shimkus was also the GTMO Naval Hospital Commander. I would be interested to know why he didn't recommend treatment for detainees at the hospital then, or now? At the Navy Fleet Hospital (think modern M*A*S*H unit), some distance from the first detention facility at Camp X-Ray, there were x-ray machines, labs, intensive care and critical care units up and running, providing nearly anything a war wounded bad guy could want or need. In the early days we saw many war wounds which needed regular care. We saw dental, vision and hearing issues. We saw amputees, ex-fixated broken bones, tuberculosis, and yes, geriatric complications. A detainee named Half-Dead-Bob was thought to be at least in his 70's and near death when brought to us from the battlefields of Afghanistan. The medical team felt that keeping him alive was our prime directive. We hadn't lost a detainee, and we weren't going to lose one now! Still, Half Dead Bob was not allowed in the GTMO Naval Hospital. He survived and was later repatriated, but we were able to meet his needs. I am wondering exactly what type of care Professor Shimkus might be referring to that we have not already been able to provide, and that could not be provided with planning and effort?