The Gitmo Price Tag

Staff / Truthdig Nov 13, 2011 The Obama administration puts the cost of holding each of Guantanamo’s 171 prisoners at about $800,000 per year, or a total of $136 million taken from taxpayers' pockets annually. That’s more than 30 times what it costs to keep an individual captive on U.S. soil. (more) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Iran Frees 2 American Hikers

Staff / Truthdig Sep 21, 2011 Two years after crossing an unmarked border into Iran, American hikers Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal are being released from prison on $1 million bail. Convicted of espionage by the Iranians, they had been sentenced to eight years behind bars. Update: The two Americans flew Wednesday to Oman, where they raced down the stairway of a private jet and into the arms of their families. (more) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

What We Have Here Is a Failure to Compensate

Staff / Truthdig Jul 24, 2011 At a time of record unemployment, American companies are increasingly exploiting the low-cost labor of 23 million Americans behind bars This means fewer jobs available for free citizens, which leads to more unemployment, which produces more crime (more). Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Chinese Prisoners Forced Into Gaming for Guards

Staff / Truthdig May 26, 2011 Hard manual labor is one time-honored method of putting prisoners to work, but Chinese jail bosses have caught on to another lucrative way to keep inmates occupied while lining their own pockets: online gaming. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Accused Russian Spies Plead Guilty

Staff / Truthdig Jul 9, 2010 On Thursday, 10 members of an alleged Russian spy ring pleaded guilty of espionage in a New York courtroom -- a move which, as previous reports suggested, could lead to a prisoner swap between Russia and the U.S. Ah, Cold War nostalgia. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Gitmo Guard Reunites With Ex-Inmates via Facebook

Staff / Truthdig Jan 13, 2010 Six years after their release from the Guantánamo Bay prison, former inmates and British citizens Ruhal Ahmed and Shafiq Rasul met up in London with an American soldier, Brandon Neely, who had been one of their guards during their two-year detention at Gitmo. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

U.S. Halts Transfer of Gitmo Prisoners to Yemen

Staff / Truthdig Jan 6, 2010 Perhaps unsurprisingly, the US government has decided that now is not the best time to transfer Yemeni detainees back to their homeland from Guantánamo Bay prison in Cuba More than 80 Yemeni prisoners -- almost half of the entire group at Gitmo -- will stay put for the time being, as the situation between the U and Yemen remains tense. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Freed Afghan Says He Was Sent to Gitmo at 12

Staff / Truthdig Aug 27, 2009 In December 2002, Mohammed Jawad was accused of throwing a grenade into a Jeep carrying U.S. troops and shipped off to Guantanamo Bay from Afghanistan. Jawad's now home after seven years, and there's a bit of a difference between his side of the story and the Pentagon's -- namely, he claims he was just 12 years old when he was arrested. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Obama’s Coalition of the Unwilling

Stanley Kutler / Truthdig May 15, 2009 President Barack Obama dramatically changed course twice on May 13 when he announced he would not release photos of American military personnel “abusing” detainees, reversing the Pentagon’s statement on April 26 that it would comply with a court order -- with the president’s own prompt and emphatic support for release. Dig deeper ( 5 Min. Read )

Obama Reneges on Torture Photo Release

Staff / Truthdig May 14, 2009 On Wednesday, President Barack Obama went back on his administration's previous plan to release photos reportedly showing prisoner abuse at American military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. Team Obama may also follow in the Bushies' footsteps by detaining some prisoners "on U.S. soil" and "indefinitely and without trial," according to The Wall Street Journal. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

U.S. Soldier Gets Life in Killing of Iraqi Prisoners

Staff / Truthdig Apr 16, 2009 He was one of three U.S. soldiers implicated in the execution-style shooting of four Iraqi prisoners near Baghdad in March 2007, but 40-year-old Army Master Sgt. John E. Hatley was also believed to have been the main instigator in the incident. On Thursday, Hatley was sentenced to life in prison for murder. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Six Held at Guantanamo After Plot Claim Is Dropped

Robert Fisk / Truthdig Nov 2, 2008 In the dying days of the Bush administration, yet another presidential claim in the "war on terror" has been proved false by the withdrawal of the main charge against six Algerians held without trial for nearly seven years at Guantanamo prison camp. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )