Former
US president George W. Bush and his top aides were accused Friday of covering
up that many Guantanamo Bay detainees were innocent, amid fears releasing them
could harm the 'war on terror’, by Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of
staff to Bush's first secretary of state, Colin Powell.
Wilkerson
alleged former vice president Dick Cheney and defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld
knew that most detainees held at the US detention camp in 2002 were innocent
but believed it was politically impossible to release them.
Wilkerson said prisoners were often rounded up
by Afghan and Pakistani forces in return for cash, with little or no evidence
as to why. He alleged Cheney "had absolutely no concern that the vast
majority of Guantanamo detainees were innocent; If hundreds of innocent
individuals had to suffer in order to detain a handful of hardcore terrorists,
so be it".
"I
learned that it was his view that it was not just vice president Cheney and
secretary Rumsfeld, but also president Bush who was involved in all of the
Guantanamo decision-making."
183
detainees remain at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay on Cuba, including
dozens already cleared for release. Most have been held without charge or
trial.
No comments:
Post a Comment