- Detainees in Guantanamo now: 166
- Detainees facing active charges: 6
- Detainees cleared for immediate release, but stuck in the camp: 86
- Guantanamo inmates on hunger strike: 103
- Hunger strikers strapped down and force fed: 30
- Prisoners who have died in custody: 9
- Children the US has held at Guantanamo: 21
- Detainees tried in civilian court: 1
- "Unreleasable" detainees who can't be tried for lack of evidence or torture: 50
- Prisoners released by the Bush administration: 500+
- Prisoners released by the Obama administration: 72
- Current annual cost to US taxpayers: $150 million
- Days since Obama first pledged to close Gitmo: 1579
- Days since first prisoners arrived at Guantanamo: 11 years, 4 months, 11 days
 |
| Thankfully some people disagree and work at closure over the war in Iraq. |
Of all the statistics quoted above the least important is the money;I don't believe in any of the 'the taxpayer is a victim' shtick that fills talk radio. The same amount of money, and more, could be spent on lawyers in the U.S. defending the prisoners of Guantanamo and it would be seen as 'good value' for the lawyers being good american citizens. Where there is no systematic redistribution of wealth downwards by government, and there is no direct taxation, then people have to pay bribes instead, e.g. India and Pakistan, China. Those systems are far more capricious than ever anyone likes to admit,and far more common in the world.
ReplyDelete