Charlie Daniels penned 'The Straight Scoop,' an essay about the al-Qaeda and Taliban prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay.
Theabove-quoted essay was written by Charlie Daniels, the popular singer-songwriter. He penned this opinion piece upon his return from his first trip to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba to entertain U.S. troops in late March 2002 and posted it on his web site in the Soapbox section, where it appeared under the title 'The Straight Scoop.' This is not the first of Mr. Daniel's essays to have found its way into online lore - another of his articles was also widely circulated in e-mail, one written in response to the controversy arising over his song, 'This Ain't No Rag, It's a Flag.' (You can view our write up about it here.)Charlie Daniels' descriptions of the physical condition and behavior of the prisoners he observed at Guantanamo Bay were similar to those of others who had visited or been assigned to that site:Inside cellblocks, 'the troops have feces and urine thrown at them all the time,' said Navy Lt. Bruce Crouterfield, the base's Baptist chaplain. 'Troops who come through here feel like they're getting slugged in the chest when they should get patted on the back,' said Crouterfield, who acknowledged he wouldn't flinch at the death penalty for some prisoners here. 'But they have to come back to work every day and treat the Quran with respect and make sure the detainees' needs are met.' Descriptions of detainees hurling cocktails of feces and urine at guards, or spitting on them, were volunteered during almost every interview with military officials. The method is to 'save up' human waste in Styrofoam food containers and launch them at opportune moments, they said. No feces or urine was evident during a two-minute walk through a cellblock that military escorts billed as a surprise visit. Camp commanders said that was because the cellblock's 31 inmates are among those classified as 'moderately compliant.'Regardless of their status, the prisoners were fed three meals a day and had access to decent medical care. Medical care and three squares a day aside, some critics considered the prisoners' treatment inhumane; the spartan conditions detainees were initially housed under provoked criticism from human rights groups and were decried in the American press.When Charlie Daniels wrote his essay, the detainees were incarcerated at Camp X-Ray, a temporary holding facility near Guantanamo Bay. Inmates were kept in tin-roofed 8×8 cells that resembled dog runs: chain link fencing on a concrete base, open on the sides to the elements. They slept on foam pads placed on concrete floors in cells containing chemical toilets or buckets. At least every two days prisoners would be taken from their cells for all of 15 minutes of exercise.The detainees have since been moved to nearby Camp Delta, a permanent detention center erected for this purpose. The 8×6.66 cells have beds and walls and windows, flush toilets and running water, but can still be described as austere:Most cellblocks in Camp Delta are rectangular prefab structures that from the outside resemble mobile homes. Prisoners are locked inside 8-by-6.8-foot cells that line both lengths of the prefabs and are separated by green, metal-mesh walls. Cell windows are open to the elements, covered only with the same mesh whose links are large enough to let in Guantanamo's ubiquitous gnats. Each cell has a squat-toilet and sink. Inside one cellblock, a visitor saw prisoners clad in tan jumpsuits, to designate them 'moderately compliant,' and black flip-flops. Most were olive skinned and bearded. Each seemed in his own world, so much so that the place almost evoked an asylum for the mentally ill.Those stationed at Gitmo (a popular slang term for the base at Guantanamo Bay) had the unenviable task of guarding approximately 600 prisoners, many of whom would turn on their captors when given the opportunity. (In November 2000, a member of al-Qaeda jailed in New York plunged a sharpened comb into the eye of a Metropolitan Correctional Center guard.) Ergo, the powers that be worked out it was best if little opportunity for killing was afforded the prisoners, hence the bare bones approach to housing.Now that the detainees have been moved to Camp Delta, a move that brought alleviation of the worst aspects of their incarceration, most Americans have forgotten about the men being held at Guantanamo Bay. Because no one seems to know what to do with them, forgetting may be the easier course.Barbara 'gitmo blues' Mikkelson
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