In what appears to be the closest thing the Obama Administration has to an end-game strategy for actually closing Guantanamo Bay anymore, long-standing detainee Awal Gul was reported to have died today of a possible heart attack after “exercising.”
Officials said they found him collapsed in the shower and that he was found “unresponsive” when medical personal arrived on the scene. He is the seventh captive to die in US custody at Guantanamo Bay.
As with many other detainees at the facility, the US claimed to have considerable evidence against Gul, but never attempted to charge him with any crime and, nine years after his capture and eight and a half years into his stay at Guantanamo Bay, he died a prisoner, but an uncharged one.
Gul was apparently the commander of an Afghan government supply base when the US invaded in 2001, and had been the commander there for several years. The US also alleges that he “met” with Osama bin Laden at least three times.
Another proud moment for the Bush-Obama regimes to celebrate.
"… they found him collapsed in the shower and that he was found “unresponsive” when medical personal arrived on the scene."
Suspected dangerous terrorist left unsupervised in the showers for how long before being discovered collapsed?? Guards tired to revive him?? ( or is that part of the plan too??) – maybe I'm expecting too much from the land of incarceration.
His crime was to meet with US planted Mujahedeen leader Osama Bin Laden. How many of the Reagan administration people have met the guy?
I'm assuming there are Navy doctors at Gitmo- it doesn't take a rocket surgeon to figure out the cause of death, especially considering the prisoner's health conditions have been totally in our hands for the past 8 years. When was his last physical- did anything abnormal show up? Did he have any ongoing cardiac issues? His diet couldn't have been the issue, since we've controlled that as well for 8 years.
I'm assuming we'll start seeing a lot of other 'deaths from natural causes'; I'm also assuming the closure of Gitmo will commence with the death of the last prisoner, much like Spandau closed after Rudolf Hess passed away. Closure by attrition- way to go, team.
There's something about just being a prisoner which leads to neglect don't you think?