I’ve just returned from a one-day press trip to Guantanamo Bay, on which there will be more to say. But an observation while digesting the experience –
Only in America would you find authorities trying to cope with terrorist detainees by over-feeding them. We of the media were served the same halal meal as that offered to the detainees, which meant a lunch including — this is only a partial list — spiced meat patty, egg salad, tuna, yogurt, fresh dates, freshly baked bread, juice, and a down-home Middle Eastern dessert, which left us licking from our fingers the honey and nuts of the same baklava we were told is served to Hambali, Abu Zubaydah, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the rest of the gang. Of course, this being Ramadan, the detainees have the option of dining on a different schedule, fasting by day and tucking into the baklava at night. All told, they are offered a menu that provides 4,200 calories per day — more than the 3,800 allotted for a U.S. combat soldier in Iraq.
Apparently, Al Qaeda is eating this up. Guantanamo officers say that while most of the detainees upon arrival at Gitmo ranged from underweight to normal, today the 460 or so held on the base range from normal to overweight to mildly obese. Even the two detainees currently on hunger strike, being fed through tubes, are close to normal weight. We were told that one detainee, who apparently cleans his plate — or his styrofoam meal box — weighs 410 pounds, though we did not get to see him (it is against the Geneva Conventions to put prisoners on display, so our military follows the same rule for the Gitmo detainees). “His choice,” said one of our Gitmo guides. At risk of triggering a human-rights campaign for Guantanamo Lite, I have to wonder if there’s method to this menu. There’s something very disturbing about coddling terrorists, but in some ways this helps cut them down to size: Yep, it’s Al Qaeda… with a weight problem.
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19 Comments
1. Brian:Claudia wrote:
Thanks . . . I’ve been chuckling about that since I read it. Evidently, even the toughest of terrorists lacks the will to resist the infidel’s excessive gastronomic temptations.
Brian
Sep 29, 2006 - 2:07 pm 2. spynverzyon:Soon enough they’ll be suing us for addicting them to unhealthy habits of conspicuous consumption.
Sep 29, 2006 - 7:25 pm 3. ic:“addicting them to unhealthy habits of conspicuous consumption” Is that torture? Gosh, we have broken another Geneva Conventions.
Now if we released them, they would have to use at least two bomb belts to detonate themselves, cutting their arsenals in half. Rummy is a genius.
Oct 1, 2006 - 4:45 pm 4. Rahul:Seriously - why on earth are we feeding dreaded terrorists gourmet meals?
And why on earth are lefties paranoid about conditions at Camp G? Damn, Martha Stewarts supposed country-club detention sounds much worse.
Oct 1, 2006 - 5:10 pm 5. DRJ:It’s the foreign policy side of President Bush’s compassionate conservativism: Kill them with kindness.
Oct 1, 2006 - 5:24 pm 6. Dawnsblood:Guantanamo Bay, The American Gulag
Claudia Rosett just returned from a one day press junket to Gitmo. Her report makes wonder if we could solve the Federal Debt by having Uncle Sam run a chain of resorts:Only in America would you find authorities trying to cope with
Oct 1, 2006 - 5:40 pm 7. Dawnsblood:terrorist…
Guantanamo Bay, The American Gulag
Claudia Rosett just returned from a one day press junket to Gitmo. Her report makes wonder if we could solve the Federal Debt by having Uncle Sam run a chain of resorts:Only in America would you find authorities trying to cope with
Oct 1, 2006 - 6:09 pm 8. Michael:terrorist…
Torture would be defined as switching the detainees to a low-fat, low-sodium, low-carb diet and then forcing them to watch the Food Network. We can either have Jack Bauer saying “Bam!” or Emeril.
Oct 1, 2006 - 6:47 pm 9. Dawnsblood:Guantanamo Bay, The American Gulag
Claudia Rosett just returned from a one day press junket to Gitmo. Her report makes wonder if we could solve the Federal Debt by having Uncle Sam run a chain of resorts:Only in America would you find authorities trying to cope with
Oct 1, 2006 - 7:21 pm 10. AST:terrorist…
Are calisthenics considered torture? They could use a treadmill instead of a water board.
Maybe, after being waterboarded, standing in awkward positions inside 50 degree rooms for hours, they need this many calories to keep up their resistance to interrogation.
Oct 1, 2006 - 7:49 pm 11. Debbie:Ha, this is great. The food is so good they are getting fat. Now the US will be blamed for their over weight condition and heaven forbid one should die from a heart attack… Break out the lawyers, heh
Oct 1, 2006 - 11:49 pm 12. Gayle Miller:Naw - here’s the torture ticket! Make them watch “The View” with Rosie O’Donnell! That’ll make them confess to anything just to avoid a repeat viewing!
Oct 2, 2006 - 11:57 am 13. Wizblog:Gitmo First-Hand
I have yet to hear anyone who has actually visited the U.S. detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay criticize the conditions or treatment of detainees there. I’ve assembled links to the reports of a few of the journalists to visit the…
Oct 2, 2006 - 4:32 pm 14. MattM:Because yeah, a good meal makes up for being arrested and shipped off to prison for no reason.
Oct 2, 2006 - 7:58 pm 15. Jeffrey Smith:Michael suggested that detainees be forced to watch The Food Network. I second that idea. No doubt the jihadis would find waterboarding less distasteful than a few hours of Rachel Ray, though I’m sure that the ACLU would raise a stink about such abuse.
Oct 3, 2006 - 8:27 pm 16. spynverzyon:Because yeah, a good meal makes up for being arrested and shipped off to prison for no reason.
No reason at all, except for maybe engaging in armed combat against NATO troops in Afghanistan. But hey, one man’s reason is another man’s perfectly-understandable-response-of-the-repressed-and-downtrodden-to-American-imperialist-anti-Islamic-bigotry.
Oct 3, 2006 - 8:29 pm 17. bubbe:Key word is “offered”. The food doesn’t have to be eaten at all or only portions can be eaten but, hey, if a terrorist wants the good life at Gitmo, I say, more power to the little fatties. Personally, I’ve never seen a ME diet that would make a person fat unless one eats the WHOLE baklava. In that case, call out the dentists!
Oct 3, 2006 - 8:37 pm 18. Blog-o-Fascists:The Torture Never Stops
Little Green Footballs
Those demons have employed the dreaded Harry Potter readings, the diabolical high volume Red Hot Chili Peppers, the abominable shirt grab and the monstrous belly slap, and much much more.
But now the inhuman …
Oct 3, 2006 - 10:30 pm 19. David Thomson:How can I get into Club Gitmo? These guys eat better than I do. We also prepare our own meals. Yup, I should perhaps think of declaring war on the United States. I need to once again watch Petter Seller’s “The Mouse That Roared.”
Oct 4, 2006 - 7:58 am