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More photos: | Medical Care | Food Prep & Meals |

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Rudy_at_Gitmo_gate

Inside Gitmo researcher John W. Rudisill at the Camp II and III entry gate.

Rudisill is a former Air Force lieutenant colonel and dentist who had done a clinical rotation through Texas correctional facilities. His expertise proved especially helpful in researching medical issues.

Rudy, as he is known to his friends, makes frequent media guest appearances and lectures to Rotary and other civic organizations about his observations from Guantanamo Bay.

Gitmo detainees outside

Camp IV detainees have communal privilages and outdoor
space to read, pray, play board games and exercise. Photos can
be taken only with detainee permission and their faces are not allowed to be shown (for that reason a white circle has been used here to fully conceal the detainee's partial profile).

Gitmo iguana


Iguanas are found everywhere throughout the camps and premises. Some detainees feed the iguanas with food from their meals and have made them into pets.

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Chapter Summaries & Source Documents

The chapter summaries and source document libraries as based on the end notes within Inside Gitmo are currently under construction. They will be completed by the book's January 27th release date.

Preface and Introduction
Guantanamo, the Myth and Reality

Chapter 1
Why Guantanamo?


Chapter 2
Muhammad al Qahtani:
A Terrorist Case Study


Chapter 3 
In the Beginning: Camp X-Ray

Chapter 4 
Camp Delta's Mission:
A Work in Progress


Chapter 5
Meet the "Foreign Fighters"

Chapter 6
Maximum Security: Camps I, II, and III

Chapter 7 
Compliance Rewarded:
Inside the Camp IV Wire


Chapter 8
Segregation and Supervision:
Camps V and VI


Chapter 9
Camps Echo, Iguana, and
a "Secret" CIA Installation


Chapter 10
Daily Life at Gitmo

Chapter 11
Meet the American Military

Chapter 12
Hunger Strikes: Asymmetrical
Warfare in Action


Chapter 13
The Value of Intelligence

Chapter 14
The Future of Guantanamo:
Critiques and Recommendations

 

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.

Journalists, lawmakers, analysts, students, law enforcement professionals, and foreign affairs experts are encouraged to join.

If you would like to participate -- or just listen in -- then click here to join us.

What Others Are Saying

Monica Crowley photo"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 

Ralph Peters photo"Our new president should read it — twice — and take its truth-telling to heart." — Ralph Peters, columnist and author of Looking For Trouble


Victor Davis Hanson photo"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

Oliver North photo"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

Frank Gaffney photo"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

Douglas Feith photo"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.

About the Author

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.

Inside Gitmo author Gordon Cucullu, below, is pointing out the Holy Koran in the window of a detainee's cell in the ultra-modern Camp V. According to a 2007 item in the New York Times, the cost of building Gitmo's high-security detention facilities was about $54 million, while the estimated annual cost of operating Gitmo ranges from $90 million to $118 million.

Cucullu in cell

Every detainee receives a personal copy of the Koran that he is permitted to keep. Inside a cell, the Koran is held in a dainty, doily affair that hangs from the side of the wall. In the newer camps it rests in a special spot on the shelf beneath a translucent window. Guards and medics are forbidden to touch the Koran. Only Muslim cultural advisers are permitted to handle the book and then only when wearing gloves.

Several contentious issues at Guantanamo are associated with handling of the Koran. Many stories were published – and continue to be taken at face value – of routine defacement of the Koran. Detainees relate that during harsh interrogation sessions the book has been tossed about, trashed, even urinated upon by angry interrogators in an apparent attempt to humiliate the detainee and his religion and force him to talk.

Following one three-week inquiry in 2005, it was determined that five incidents of intentional or unintentional mishandling had occurred since the camp’s opening in 2002.

Related articles from a variety of different outside sources documenting the above (these will open in a new window):

5/11/05 Department of Defense
"Guantanamo Procedures on Handling Koran / Inspecting/Handling Detainee Korans Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)."

5/26/05 Washington Post
"Inmates Alleged Koran Abuse: FBI Papers
Cite Complaints as Early as 2002"

by Dan Eggen and Josh White

5/26/05 Department of Defense
"DoD News Briefing on Koran Mishandling Allegations"
news transcript

May 17, 2005 New York Times
"Newsweek Retracts Account of Koran Abuse by U.S. Military"
by Katharine Q. Seelye and Neil A. Lewis

Gitmo laundry day

The detainees in Camp IV prefer to do their own laundry, although laundry services are offered.

Gitmo detainee mealDetainee meals like this one, a typical vegetarian lunch, are provided in styrofoam clamshell containers.

Detainee Meals

Food preparation and service at Guantanamo is exemplary. A Las Vegas based contractor prepares food in the same facility for detainees as for US personnel. Detainees receive a 4,500 calorie daily diet of three hot meals.

Menus change weekly and special food orders – either by detainee choice, or by medical personnel direction – are usual. Menus for US personnel rotate on a bi-weekly basis.

Food is served in Styrofoam clamshell containers, each labeled with the detainee’s number and marked according to special requirements (e.g., vegetarian, extra portions, no peanut products, calcium added, low sodium). Food is inspected at the preparation site and again at the delivery point for appropriate temperature. If found unsatisfactory food is returned and replaced. All food is prepared to Halal standards and there are special festival meals for Eid, celebrating the end of Ramadan, and other important Islamic holidays.

Related articles from a variety of different outside sources (these will open in a new window):

11/03/06 ABC News
"A Growing Threat at Guantanamo? Detainees Fatten Up"
by Michael Melia

1/23/08 Savannah Morning News
"Guantanamo chief blasts critics in comments to Savannah audience"
by Pamela E. Walck

7/3/02 Department of Defense American Forces Press Service
"Detainees Eat Well, Gain Weight on Camp Delta's Muslim Menu"
by Rudi Williams

 

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