Guantanamo's Shadow

Quoted from The Atlantic:

The Atlantic recently asked a group of foreign policy authorities about the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"Has the prison system at Guantanamo Bay helped or hurt the United States in its fight against al-Qaeda?

87% Hurt

“Nothing has hurt America’s image and standing in the world—and nothing has undermined the global effort to combat nihilistic terrorism—than the brutal torture and dehumanizing actions of Americans in Abu Ghraib and in other prisons (secret or otherwise). America can win the fight against terrorism only if it acts in ways consistent with the values for which it stands; if its behavior descends to the level employed by the terrorists, then we have all become them instead of us.”

“Gitmo has hurt the US in two different ways. At the strategic level, it has undercut the U.S. case around the world that we represent a world view and a set of values that all can admire, even those who do not wish to replicate our system and society in their own countries. Gitmo has become a symbol for cruelty and inhumanity that is repugnant to a wide sector of the world community and a powerful tool that al Qaeda can use to damage US interest and recruit others to its cause. At the tactical level, Gitmo deludes many in the US, an never more than the senior leaders of the Bush Administration, into believing that harsh interrogation techniques can produce good intelligence and is a necessary tool in fighting terrorist. This 'truth' spread from Gitmo to Iraq and we have paid a horrible price for it.”

13% Helped

“The main purposes of Gitmo detention are (1) to allow effective interrogation to provide intelligence for the war on terrorism and (2) to keep dangerous terrorism locked up. Gitmo has helped because it has achieved both purposes. The administration has not done a good job of explaining to the public what it was doing at Gitmo or why—and that has caused some unnecessary problems. But interrogating captured terrorists and keeping them detained and off the battlefield is undeniably important to our security.”

Neither

“The real answer is, both helped and hurt. In the year or two after 9/11, Gitmo was a reasonable response to what we faced—it helped. But it has gone on too long, the process of thinning the population down to the justifiable hard core has taken too long, and it has become an easy target for a world in which 9/11 is a fading memory—in that sense, it is now hurting.”

“This is a complex subject that makes answering question 1 very difficult. I would say that it has helped and hurt. It's helped in that we have gotten some good intelligence from the detainees. In addition, having them at one site enabled better protection for the detainees, consistency of care and processes, and provided focus for the International Red Cross."

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