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Inside the Wire: A Military Intelligence Soldier's Eyewitness
Account of Life at Guantanamo
Four Dead in Ohio: 35th Anniversary of Kent State Shootings
Inside the Wire: A Military Intelligence Soldier's
Eyewitness Account of Life at Guantanamo
We speak with former army sergeant, Erik Saar who served
as an Arabic translator at Guantanamo Bay for six months.
Among the abuses he says he witnessed was sexual abuse, mock
interrogations, the use of dogs and a female interrogator
smearing what looked like menstrual blood on a Muslim prisoner.
He also says children were imprisoned at Guantanamo and that
the military ordered them not to speak to the Red Cross. [includes
rush
transcript - partial]
We begin today by continuing our extensive look into the
abuse and outright torture of prisoners held by the US government
since the onset of the so-called war on terror. Three years
ago, most people in this country or around the world had never
heard of Guantanamo Bay Cuba or the Abu Ghraib prison, two
places that have now become global symbols of the US war on
terror. Last week marked the one-year anniversary of the breaking
of the Abu Ghraib torture scandal.
To date, no senior military officials have been held accountable
for the systematic abuse of prisoners held by the US military.
Lawyers for the rank-and-file soldiers who have been prosecuted
say that their clients are cogs in a much bigger wheel that
goes higher up the chain of command. This weekend, The New
York Times reported on a high-level military investigation
into accusations of detainee abuse at the Guantanamo Prison
camp. While its findings fall far short in describing the
extent of the abuse that human rights groups and released
prisoners allege are taking place there, it did reveal some
significant details.
It concluded that several prisoners were mistreated or humiliated,
perhaps illegally, as a result of efforts to devise innovative
methods to gain information. The report on the investigation
is still a few weeks from being completed and released. The
Times says it will deal with accounts by FBI agents who complained
after witnessing detainees subjected to several forms of harsh
treatment. The FBI agents wrote in memorandums that were never
meant to be disclosed publicly that they had seen female interrogators
forcibly squeeze male prisoners" genitals, and that they
had witnessed other detainees stripped and shackled low to
the floor for many hours.
This comes as a former U.S army linguist who worked as an
Arabic translator at the U.S prison camp in Guantanamo is
speaking out. Erik Saar was stationed at the camp from December
2002 to June 2003. He has just written a new book called "Inside
the Wire: A Military Intelligence Soldier's Eyewitness Account
of Life at Guantanamo," in which he describes a wide
range of practices and techniques used by U.S military officers
at Guantanamo and condoned by senior officers.
Erik Saar joins us today in our Boston studio.
- Erik Saar, author of "Inside the Wire: A Military
Intelligence Soldier's Eyewitness Account of Life at Guantanamo."
Four Dead in Ohio: 35th Anniversary of Kent State
Shootings
On May 4th, 1970 - 35 years ago today - National Guardsmen
opened fire on a crowd of unarmed students at Kent State University.
Four students were killed and nine others wounded. We commemorate
the 35th anniversary by airing an excerpt of the documentary,
"Kent State: The Day the War Came Home" that includes
interview with students and National Guardsmen who were there.
Today marks the 35th anniversary of the Kent State shooting.
On May 4th, 1970, US National Guardsmen opened fire on a crowd
of unarmed students on the campus of Kent State University
in Ohio.
The guardsmen fired off at least 67 shots in roughly 13 seconds.
Four students were killed and nine others wounded. To this
day, no one has been held accountable. Today, on this 35th
anniversary we remember the Kent State shootings.
At the time, President Richard Nixon had just escalated the
Vietnam War and launched the invasion of Cambodia. Across
the country, college campuses erupted in protest. At Kent
State, a large demonstration was held on May 1st on the university
grounds with another was planned for May 4th. Students clashed
with police and tensions were high throughout the city.
On May 2nd, Kent city Mayor Leroy Satrom declared a state
of emergency and, later that afternoon, asked Ohio Governor
James Rhodes to send the National Guard to the university.
That evening, students held a large demonstration and the
campus ROTC building was set on fire.
The National Guard entered the campus for the first time
and set up camp directly on the university grounds. They used
tear gas to disperse the crowd and many arrests were made.
By Sunday, May 3rd, Kent State campus was occupied by nearly
1,000 (one thousand) National Guardsmen. Governor Rhodes held
a press conference that day which many say served only to
provoke and increase the existing tension.
- James Rhodes, Ohio Governor, speaking on May 3rd, 1970.
The next day, on May 4th, a protest was scheduled to be held
at noon on the university commons. An estimated three thousand
people gathered for the rally. The National Guard ordered
the crowd to disperse and began to fire tear gas. Students
responded by throwing rocks and chanting "Pigs off campus."
In an attempt to disperse the crowd, a group of seventy National
Guard troops advanced on the protesters with fixed bayonets
and with their weapons locked and loaded. The guardsmen soon
found themselves trapped on an athletic practice field which
was fenced on three sides. What happened next left an indelible
mark on the history of this country. To tell the story we
turn to an excerpt of the documentary "Kent State: The
Day the War Came Home." It includes interview with students
and National Guardsmen who were there.
- Excerpt of documentary, "Kent State: The Day the
War Came Home," produced by Partners in Motion and
Single Spark Pictures.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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