1115.org

The U.S. military, for some strange reason, has just released a Guantanamo detainee:

A German native who was imprisoned by the U.S. military at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was released Thursday, more than 18 months after a federal judge in Washington ruled there was insufficient evidence to detain him.

Murat Kurnaz, 24, a Turkish citizen who was born and raised in Germany, was flown to Ramstein Air Base in Germany and reunited with his mother, Rabiye Kurnaz, after spending more than four years as a prisoner at Guantanamo, according to his lawyers.

The U.S. military, for some strange reason, is being extremely tight-lipped about the circumstances surrounding the release:

Without identifying Kurnaz by name, the Pentagon confirmed his release, saying that an administrative review board at Guantanamo had recommended his transfer to Germany. “The United States does not desire to hold detainees any longer than necessary,” the Defense Department said in a statement.

The U.S. military, for some strange reason, stoutly refused to mention that a federal judge ordered Kurnaz released in January 2005. An innocent bystander could be forgiven for thinking the release was entirely the result of a Guantanamo administrative review.

The U.S. military, for some strange reason, seems to think there are people out there who are still swallowing their ox-crap. So perhaps a little perspective is in order.

Let’s start by placing firmly in the forefront of our mind the fact that Kurnaz’s release came more than four years after “U.S. military intelligence and German law enforcement authorities had largely concluded there was no information linking Kurnaz to al-Qaeda or terrorist activities”. And let’s examine what factors conspired to make it necesary to detain Kurnaz for all this time.

Kurnaz was detained in Pakistan in October 2001 and taken to Guantanamo a few months later on suspicion that he was a supporter of al-Qaeda. But records in his case show that the evidence against him was thin from the start.

By early 2002, U.S. military intelligence and German law enforcement authorities had largely concluded there was no information linking Kurnaz to al-Qaeda or terrorist activities, according to declassified records in his case that were made public last year.

It was still necessary to detain him, however:

A military tribunal at Guantanamo nevertheless concluded that he should remain in prison, citing a single unsubstantiated report from an unnamed U.S. government official alleging that Kurnaz was an al-Qaeda member who had been trying to reach Afghanistan to fight U.S. forces.

I’ll pause here for a few moments, long enough for you to pick your jaw up from the ground. If you’re going to make a habit of reading official Bush administration pronouncements and rationalizations, you should probably consider jaw replacement surgery and invest in a rubber jaw.

That must be some definition of “necessary” our military has.

In January 2005, U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens Green criticized the military for ignoring evidence in Kurnaz’s favor and ruled that his detention was illegal. Her ruling was stayed while the government appealed.

It was, of course, necessary to appeal. Can’t have judges deciding who should be released and when.

Although Kurnaz grew up in Germany and was a legal resident here at the time of his capture, the German government at first declined to intercede in his behalf, saying he was not entitled to its help because he was not a citizen. But Germany changed its position last year and Chancellor Angela Merkel raised the case in meetings with President Bush, which led to a diplomatic agreement to release Kurnaz, German officials said.

So it was necessary to detain Kurnaz (necessary for our national security, you understand). And all it took for us to turn him loose was a “pretty please” from Angela “Back-rub” Merkel? She asked last year, and we just got around to saying “Okay, sure”? I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking somebody left out something that happened behind the scenes somewhat recently. I think she threatened Bush with a sexual harrassment lawsuit. I think we’ll see a lot more of Bush dancing to Merkel’s tune in the months ahead.

Kurnaz’s lawyers said U.S. officials had asked Germany to place Kurnaz under surveillance and open a criminal investigation of him as a condition of his release, but relented in the end. “There will be no criminal charges, no criminal investigation,” said Azmy, the defense counsel. “He’s a completely free man.”

I would love to see that request. How would we have phrased it? “Since we have no evidence whatsoever against Mr. Kurnaz — other than a single unsubstantiated report from an unnamed U.S. government official alleging that Kurnaz was an al-Qaeda member — we shall be grateful if you will support us in the international War Against Terror by placing him under surveillance and opening a criminal investigation of him. We shall, of course, be happy to return the favor any time, no questions asked.”

Why let Kurnaz go with good grace even after all this time? Why not go ahead and make complete assholes of ourselves? It’s necessary for national security, right?

Meanwhile, I wish someone would explain to me again why it is right and proper and fitting that those who we choose to detain as enemy combatants in TWAT should have as few legal rights as possible.

*** Update, 4:15 am on August 26 ***

WaPo:
My conjecture yesterday was correct, after all. We released Kurnaz even though we continue to regard him as a grave threat to our national security. It’s looking more and more like blackmail, I’m sorry to say. Bush is now confirmed to be Merkel’s bitch, in my opinion. But judge for yourself. And remember to hold your head up high, proudly, as every American always should.

Lawyers for Murat Kurnaz, a German native released Thursday after spending more than four years locked up at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, said he was mistreated to the end by U.S. military personnel, who kept him shackled and blindfolded until his flight home landed.

Bernhard Docke, an attorney representing Kurnaz, a 24-year-old Turkish citizen who was born and raised in Germany, said his client was kept in a “cage” and under bright neon lights 24 hours a day during his captivity at Guantanamo. “The Americans are incorrigible, they have not learned a thing,” Docke said at a news conference in Bremen, Kurnaz’s home town. “He was returned home in chains, humiliated and dishonored to the very end.”

Defense Department officials said they agreed to free Kurnaz on the condition that Germany treat him humanely…

Maybe some of these Defense officials, when they retire, will not be looking for jobs at Halliburton and Lockheed? Maybe some of them intend to make a career in stand-up comedy instead?

The U.S. government still considers Kurnaz an enemy combatant, said U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Chito Peppler, a Pentagon spokesman.

Naturally. Anything less, and we would be admitting we made a mistake. And we haven’t made one of those in the last six years, have we? Certainly not in the War on Iraq or TWAT.

I’m now dying to see the no-doubt-super-secret recommendation made by that administrative review board at Guantanamo (the one that recommended his transfer to Germany). Would they actually have said: “Detainee continues to constitute a grave threat to national security, and so therefore this board recommends that he be blindfolded, shackled and transferred to the custody of the German government, there to be released and treated humanely at all times.”

At any rate, these guys should really get their stories straight ahead of time. (Isn’t that S.O.P.? “Synchronize watches. Synchronize stories. Go, go go!”) Here’s what Peppler says now:

“It was only after lengthy discussions that the U.S. government decided that conditions were appropriate to return Mr. Kurnaz to Germany,” Peppler said in a telephone interview.

Not quite the same as “an administrative review board at Guantanamo had recommended his transfer to Germany”, now is it?