Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Media The Weekly Standard: Willy Stern on Afghanistan's 'Black Jails'
Posted by Jim Ridley on Tue, Jan 5, 2010 at 2:49 PM
I have been in two Field Detention Sites, and there was absolutely nothing "black" about them. They are spartan, to be sure, with the detainees housed in small, private cells built out of simple plywood inside a nondescript and unlabeled container. (Many American soldiers sleep in similar containers.) The interrogation rooms are similar--a small table with three chairs, also fashioned out of plywood, much like what your local Cub Scout troop would bang out during a carpentry project.... So why are the mainstream media, human rights groups, and civil libertarians all bent out of shape about the Field Detention Sites? Attribute it to the secrecy. The locations of the FDSs are secret. This is just plain common sense in a war zone. How else can you maintain operational security? Why tell the bad guys--who, after all, are trying to kill our soldiers--where their friends are being held? Some of these facilities are out in the hinterlands where our forces are stretched thin. Public knowledge of the FDS locations would put both our soldiers and the detainees at risk. But for reporters from the Times and the Post, secrecy means there must be something illegal going on.It's worth reading the entire piece, especially for the gripping opening that describes the crime and fate of one such detainee. (h/t Matt P. and ETW)
Comments (8)
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Quite surprising that the detainees were not beaten, photographed naked, or deprived of sleep in the presence of a reporter.
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I love me some Willy Stern, but given his (and Weekly Standard's) political leanings, I need to take this with a grain of salt. His implication that charges by the Times and Post are absurd seems a little suspect, given the U.S. military's proven track record in recent years.
My heart skipped a beat when I saw Willy Stern's name on the Scene site. Maybe this stint in the "hinterlands" will bring him back home for more recreational writing. I mean that in a good way.
I felt that once he got the obligatory polemic about the Times out of the way near the top, it was a typically compelling Stern story.
Well, well... it is unfortunate he had to deal with the TIMES and POST but a good idea.
Jack seems to think the Weekly Standard off base, but then the Times has certainly had its problems of late with the truth.
I know Willy Stern and think he gets the nod over the Post and Times whose liberal spinning is legendary.
Jack, you know that so why post such crap.
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I too have been to many of the Field Detention Sites throughout Afghanistan as a guest of CJIATF 435. I think the American people would be very surprised by the photos that truly portray the way these prisoners are living within the facilities. They are not "black jails". Its nice to see a reporter who knows how to report the facts.
