Inside Gitmo
Chapter 1: Why Guantanamo?
Content Summary
- Getting there. Terrain, weather, and a description of the history and layout of the U.S. base in Cuba.
- Why pick Guantanamo? The paradox of isolation but nearness. Outside of U.S. soil but close enough to fly to easily.
- Who selected Guantanamo? See how Defense, Justice, FBI, CIA, and other players all had a voice and whose decision weighed the most heavily on selection.
- See why what many people think of as a prison designed for rehabilitation and punishment differs from a detention/interrogation center. And, no, its not a matter of splitting hairs.
- A beginning introduction to who the detainees are, the circumstances of capture, their ideology and goals.
- Remember back to the weeks and months after 9/11 the fear of follow-on attacks, the anthrax scare, the almost universal certainty that America would be struck again and learn how that influenced the early days of interrogation at Guantanamo.
- Finally, what was the Defense Departments attitude about Guantanamo? Did they welcome the mission or accept it grudgingly?
• Introduction / preface • Chapter 1 • Chapter 2 • Chapter 3 • Chapter 4 • Chapter 5 • Chapter 6 • Chapter 7 • Chapter 8 •
• Chapter 9 • Chapter 10 • Chapter 11 • Chapter 12 • Chapter 13 • Chapter 14 •
Reprinted end notes from chapter one, with links to source
documents
and other supporting materials
1. A historical look at Guantanamo Bay and the Northeast Gate, undated webpage at http://www.jtfgtmo.southcom.mil/negatehistory.html. [Inside Gitmo website administrative note: the webpage has now been moved to http://www.jtfgtmo.southcom.mil/community/history.html]
2. J. A. Sierra, History of Cuba, History of Cuba.com.
3. Kathleen T. Rhem, From Mayberry to Metropolis: Guantanamo Bay Changes, American Forces Press Service, March 3, 2005.
4. Bosnia Admits US Terrorist Renditions Violated Human Rights Law, Serbo Journal, June 18, 2006. [Inside Gitmo website administrative note: this article is no longer available on the internet, and has not been reposted here due to copyright concerns.]
5. Robin Moore, The Hunt for Bin Laden: Task Force Dagger. New York: Random House, 2003. Also, Gary Berntsen and Ralph Perillo, Jawbreaker: The Attack on bin Laden and al Qaeda. New York: Crown, 2005; and Anonymous, Hunting al Qaeda. St. Paul, MN: Zenith Press, 2005 [Inside Gitmo website administrative note: the "Hunting Al Qaeda" book published by Zenith Press in 2005 was apparently authored by Gerald Schumacher].
6. Department of Defense Guantanamo Detainees fact sheet, February 13, 2004 (available on the Internet as an Acrobat PDF file at http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Apr2004/d20040406gua.pdf). 
7. February 13, 2004 U.S. Department of Defense Briefing on Detainee Operations at Guantanamo Bay with Paul Butler, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, and Army Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller, commander, Joint Task Force Guantanamo.
8. Author interview with Brigadier General Vincent Brooks, Pentagon, Washington, DC, December 2005.
9. Supreme Court of the United States, Johnson, Secretary of Defense, et al. v.
Eisentrager, alias Ehrhardt, et al., No. 306, argued April 17, 1950, decided June 5, 1950.
10. Author interview with Brigadier General Thomas Hemingway, Pentagon, Washington, DC, December 2005.
11. Matthew Waxman, The Smart Way to Shut Gitmo Down, Washington Post, October 28, 2007.
12. Author interview with Douglas Feith, December 2005.
13. James Taranto, War Behind the Wire, Wall Street Journal, September 16, 2006.
14. Department of Defense, Guantanamo Detainees fact sheet, February 13, 2004 (Acrobat PDF file available on the Internet at http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Apr2004/d20040406gua.pdf).
15. Box cutters found on other September 11 flights, CNN, September 24, 2001.
16. Centers for Disease Control report, Investigation of Bioterrorism-Related Anthrax, December 7, 2001.
17. Donald Knox, The Korean War: Volume 2: Uncertain Victory: An Oral History. Alfred Coppel, Harvest/HJB Books, 2002.
18. Author interview with Brigadier General Vincent Brooks, December
2005.
19. Author interview with DASD Matthew Waxman, Pentagon, Washington, DC, December 2005. |
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Chapter Summaries & Source Documents
Join the Inside Gitmo discussion group
The Inside Gitmo email-based discussion group on Guantanamo's detention facility is intended to encourage rational, civil discussion of the myriad issues and problems associated with the facility, the detainees, and the staff.
Note that in the coming months I will be participating in dozens of radio shows across the country, and asked to speak on Guantanamo topics in a variety of different venues.
Rather than operating in a vacuum, the questions, comments, thoughts and exchanges from a wide variety of different people will enrich my perspectives and understanding of what others think and believe about Guantanamo.
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 "I've also been 'inside GITMO,' and Cucullu's riveting account shows why we've been safer with it — and why we may soon regret being without it."— Monica Crowley, host of the Monica Crowley Show and author of Nixon in Winter
 "Our new president should read it — twice — and take its truth-telling to heart." — Ralph Peters, columnist and author of Looking For Trouble
 "Every relevant military and civilian official should give Cucullu's analysis a fair hearing." — Victor Davis Hanson, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and the author of An Autumn of War
 "An explosive expos of what's really been happening - 'inside the wire' at Guantanamo. Gordon Cucullu - with his Special Forces background, thorough research and extensive visits to Gitmo - knows more about the now-infamous detention facility than any 'outsider.' This book is a must-read for all who care about how we protect ourselves from those who are dying to kill us." — Oliver North, LtCol USMC (Ret.), host of War Stories on FOX News Channel & NYT bestselling author of American Heroes in the Fight Against Radical Islam
 "Inside Gitmo is a book of incalculable importance. It lays bare the myths and the stakes involved in the campaign to shut down a facility that any objective reader must conclude is vital to our national security. Every policy-maker in Washington and every citizen across America should study this books brilliant first-hand reporting and its alarming findings." — Frank Gaffney, Jr, President, Center for Security Policy and author of War Footing
 "Gordon Cucullu has written a lively work of history that fulfills its promise to explode 'the myths of Guantanamo Bay.' Anyone who wants to speak authoritatively about the Bush administration's detainee policies has to read this book." — Douglas J. Feith, senior fellow, Hudson Institute, former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, and author of War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism
The "Living Book" Concept
The "Living Book" Concept
This companion web site to Inside Gitmo was conceived and executed by Avery Johnson in collaboration with Chuck Martin. As a highly skilled, experienced researcher, Avery imposes strict demands on her work and that of author's with whom she works. Every stated fact must be backed by hard documentation. Hence readers find 524 citations in Inside Gitmo from a multiplicity of sources. Avery took that as "a good start."
Her concept - that you can interact with on these pages - is that with an issue as dynamic and multi-faceted as Guantanamo is too large to be captured only in a work of print. In order to complement and supplement the final work so that readers may continue to be apprised of developments on this critical subject and dig deeper into subjects that interest them, it is necessary and valuable to take advantage of technology.
Illustrative of this concept is that this site functions as a repository for all original documents used in the book as well as providing additional sources for continued research into the subject. For readers seeking context for specific passages referenced in the book, the site provides access to the original report, news article, book, or other source quoted. By so doing we are able to circumvent necessary space limitations in print by augmenting the book with electronic back-up.
Additionally, the site goes where print cannot: it provides an email based discussion group, videos, updated news articles, a blog, podcasts, and other resources. It highlights new developments, steers readers to newly published works, and offers visitors the opportunity to purchase relevant works from the site.
I think that this concept - a continually updated, vibrant companion website for a published book with complete references included - ought to be the new gold standard in publishing and strongly urge new and proven writers and authors to advantage themselves of these services.
Avery Johnson and her team can be contacted at avery.j@comcast.net.
I'm a retired Green Beret lieutenant colonel, Vietnam War veteran and career officer, and now a writer. After serving more than thirteen years in East Asia I was sent on assignments in El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, and eventually worked Korea and East Asian affairs at both the Pentagon and Department of State.
My many adventures since then have included raising llamas and alpacas in upstate New York, serving as the Executive Director of the Korea Society in Manhattan, working as an international marketing VP for General Electric in Asia, and traveling within corners of the world that few have had the privilege of experiencing.
In April-May 2008 I spent a month embedded with Military Police units in Iraq. Stories from my trip are posted at supportamericansoldiers.com — a book about what I saw and learned is also in the making.
My first book Separated at Birth: How North Korea became the Evil Twin was published in September 2004. |
Author's Notes
Many of the articles and works referenced in the book Inside Gitmo contain highly controversial, often inflamatory, and frequently inaccurate information. I cited these works for very specific reasons - to extract quotes, show contravailing points of view, and, in cases where factual information is contained in the piece, to use sources that may be intellectually opposed to Guantanamo for balance.
Use of these varied references does not imply that I agree with most, all, or any of the content. They are used for the reasons noted above, and ought to be read in context with the entire book for complete understanding.
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