Leaked Gitmo Docs TIME "Exclusive" or DoD Propaganda?

June 13, 2005 - 3:14am

TIME has somehow gotten its hands on a “secret” interrogation log from Guantanamo Bay. As it so happens, the log chronicles the interrogation of Mohammed Al-Qahtani, the so-called 20th hijacker. One “source” from the oh-so-trust-worthy Pentagon said the document was “never meant to leave Gitmo.” (wink wink, nudge nudge)

Time bills the story as “a rare glimpse into the darker reaches of intelligence gathering, in which teams that specialize in extracting information by almost any means match wits and wills with men who are trained to keep quiet at almost any cost.” According to TIME, the document recorded the interrogations from Dec-Jan 2002-03; “a critical period at Gitmo, during which 16 additional interrogation techniques were approved by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for use on a select few detainees, including al-Qahtani…”

So let’s review, there was a large amount of evidence that suggested that Al-Qahtani intended to take part in the 9-11 hijackings. In addition, he was captured while fighting American forces in Afghanistan. The log covers a period during which it was decided that Gitmo wasn’t “tough enough” on the prisoners. Given all of this, we can assume that Al-Qahtani would receive some “special” treatment. Its safe to assume that detainees who attempted to be a part of the 9-11 hijackings aren’t going to get too much sympathy at the most restricted and secret of US military prisons. Marines aren’t too forgiving of people who try to kill them or their buddies. Americans aren’t going to have much sympathy for the suffering of the poor, old “20th hijacker” either.. (wink wink, nudge nudge)

To tell you the truth, even I could care less about Al-Qahtani’s “rights”. The sort of people who want to carry out attacks like 9-11 are monsters; and they deserve to be dealt with like monsters. However, Al-Qahtani is a special case. He’s maybe 1 out of 30 actual dangerous terrorists among 500 prisoners being held without reason, oversight, or contact to the outside world. So, to put this “story” (I call it blatant propaganda straight from the Department of Defense) in perspective, let’s compare the “torture” of Al-Qahtani with the torture of detainees who’ve been released.

Note: I’ll finish this tomorrow…

Al-Qahtani

Released Detainees

Invasion of Space by a Female: Restrained while being straddled by a female. [1]


Often woken at 4 a.m. and probed until midnight, Al-Qahtani was forced to stand or sit on a chair, shown pictures of 9/11 victims, and told he could not pray.[2]

"They put me in the interrogation room and used it as a refrigerator. They set the temperature to minus degrees so it was terribly cold and one had to freeze there for many hours -- 12-14 hours one had to sit there, chained,"- Former Detainee

At one point, Al-Qahtani mounts a food and water strike and becomes so dehydrated that medical corpsmen “forcibly administer fluids by IV (intravenous) drip.” [3]

“botched medical treatment, interrogation at gunpoint, beatings and inhumane conditions.” – The Guardian

Kept awake by dripping water on his head or playing Christina Aguilera music.[4]


Forced to watch a puppet show "satirizing the detainee's involvement with al-Qaeda."[5]


strip-searched and forced to briefly stand nude [6]


interrogators poured bottles of water on al-Qahtani's head when he refused to drink.[7]

[detainee] forced to urinate on the floor. The interrogator returns with a mop, dips it in the puddle and begins to cover Mubanga with his own urine, “like he's using a big paintbrush.” –The Guardian

standing for prolonged periods [8]


isolation for as long as 30 days, removal of clothing, forced shaving of facial hair [9]

“They pepper-sprayed me in the face ... pinned me down and attacked me, poking their fingers in my eyes, and forced my head into the toilet pan and flushed… They tied me up like a beast and then they were kneeling on me, kicking and punching. Finally they dragged me out of the cell in chains, into the rec yard, and shaved my beard, my hair, my eyebrows.” [The Observer, 5/16/2004]


  1. This sounds a lot like my ultimate goal every weekend night.
  2. I was regularly subjected to similar circumstances at my college shortly after 9-11 (besides the fact that I was told over and over to pray for 9-11 victims, but secretly felt that god had probably gotten the message by then).
  3. They make “preventing a suicide attempt” sound so dirty… BTW, they do that at every hospital and prison in the US. Actually, they have to by law. The only difference is that Qahtani won’t get charged. If you’re an uninsured American, on the otherhand, you can expect to loose over $10,000 dollars for that.
  4. I’ll let that one speak for itself.
  5. I’d buy tickets to see that.
  6. Expect to do this if you go to jail overnight for a joint in almost every American prison.
  7. My friend was punished the same way by an ex he’d been avoiding. Different circumstances of course.
  8. Wow, apparently I was being tortured when I worked 12 hour shifts in the service industry.
  9. Standard procedure in American prisons and mental institutions.