Guantanamo Bay prison ordered to be closed.

Posted on 22. Jan, 2009 by Jesse in News & Politics, Random Ramblings, World Events 608 views

This morning, the President of the Unites States of America signed several executive orders, one of which orders the closure of the detention facility resort located at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. While my opinions of the Patriot Act are mixed, I think closing GITMO is a good idea as long as proper care is taken to insure that the detainees that are presently there are not just set free to resume their terrorist activities. There are many high level detainees presently housed there and they can not simply be set loose on society.

While popular media outlets have time and again stated facts about the torturous nature of interrogations taking place there, a few often times unmentioned facts seem to elude their sight. The conditions there are quite similar to a low security facility for celebrities here in the US. Lazy boy recliners, color television, sports facilities and very comfortable furnishings are common place there. Detainees also have many amenities that even US forces that are deployed do not get. GITMO detainees are not fed MRE’s and I will talk more about that in a minute. I have eaten MRE’s myself many times, during war and during training and I can tell you that they are not all that bad but apparently the halal meals that are prepared for the inmates at GITMO, or as I refer to it now GITMORE would make an MRE look like a 3 week old fast food cheeseburger. Recent lunch meals have consisted of curried eggs, tandoori-baked chicken, Lyonnaise rice, Orange Glazed Chicken, Rice Pilaf, Steamed Peas & Mushrooms and for desert a nice Fruit Roupee.

The pentagon budgets $2.5 million per year for feeding the detainees, which equals out to $12.68 per detainee per day while the average for federal prisoners in the United States is $2.68 a day per prisoner. The detainees are even fed better than deployed members of the armed forces, whos average daily cost is just under $.00 per soldier. One option would be to feed the detainees MRE’s, but a Congressional decree prevents the military from serving MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat – vacuum packed sealed food bags served to U.S. troops) to detainees because it would be considered “abuse.”

I can only imagine the looks on the faces of any released GITMO detainees when their friends and family see them. I can hear it now, the endless chants of “wow, aren’t you a fat ass now” as the average detainee has put on over 20 pounds since their arrival and the “biggest gainer” nearly doubling his weight from 210 pounds to his present 410 pounds. I guess that’s what 4200 calories a day will do to someone who lounges around watching TV in a recliner all day.

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