A Real Confidence Builder

The New York Times has published files related to the prisoners of GITMO since the Fall of 2001 and the details are about as uninspiring and depressing as you would imagine.

In May 2003, for example, Afghan forces captured Prisoner 1051, an Afghan named Sharbat, near the scene of a roadside bomb explosion, the documents show. He denied any involvement, saying he was a shepherd. Guantánamo debriefers and analysts agreed, citing his consistent story, his knowledge of herding animals and his ignorance of “simple military and political concepts,” according to his assessment. Yet a military tribunal declared him an “enemy combatant” anyway, and he was not sent home until 2006.

That's a real endorsement of the military tribunals. Maybe they kept him around to give Mickey Kaus tips? I'm sure this gentlemen is now a real fan of American values.

And speaking of which:

The documents show that a major reason a Sudanese cameraman for Al Jazeera, Sami al-Hajj, was held at Guantánamo for six years was for questioning about the television network’s “training program, telecommunications equipment, and newsgathering operations in Chechnya, Kosovo, and Afghanistan...He was released in 2008 and returned to work for Al Jazeera.

I guess it could have been worse, the Bush Administration could have "accidentally" attempted to blow him up again and again and again.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]