The horrors of Club Gitmo...and Camp Pendleton

Life ain't bad at all if you're a Muslim terrorist domiciled in our tropical resort at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba..AKA Club Gitmo.

The lucky 455 residents of this resort are fed 3 square meals per day of strictly halal food and given the opportunity to perform their daily prayers, to fast and to perform terawih prayers during Ramadan.

The food served to the residents of Club Gitmo is better in many cases than the food being served to our troops in the Armed Services. Believe it or not, Congressional decree prevents the military from serving MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat – vacuum packed sealed food bags served to U.S. troops) to detainees because it would be considered "abuse." I'm sure our men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan would be proud and happy to know that the people that were shooting at them are now being fed better than they are...

Here's a sample halal menu, served just last week:

*Orange Glazed Chicken
*Rice Pilaf
*Steamed Peas & Mushrooms
*Fruit Roupee

Ummm, ummm, ummm!

In addition, on Ramadan the guests at Club Gitmo are served lamb, dates and honey as part of their holiday meals...with extra large portions to make up for the daily fast.

What's more, during Ramadan,medical personnel are constantly in attendence to monitor the prisoners and make sure that no one gets ill or dehydrated during the Ramadan fast. As a general rule, guests at Club Gitmo receive medical and dental care equivalent to the level of care given our own military.

`Mommy, I wanna go to Club Gitmo for Ramadan!'


Guests at Gitmo get clothing, a pair of shoes and slippers,toiletries, towels, a new mattress, sheets, a prayer mat, a copy of the Quran and tasbih (prayer beads)..all provided by the largesse of the infidel American taxpayers. An arrow pointing to Mecca is painted on the floor of their cells or their bed frames.

Residents get regular periods for recreation in several designated areas. In each area, there is a soccer ball and a black arrow pointing to Mecca just in case prayer time comes up during a match.

There have been numerous incidents involving assaults on guards..a favorite Club Gitmo tradition involves pelting the guards with feces, urine and other substances. The guards,of course, are strictly forbidden to physically retaliate or respond to verbal or physical abuse by Gitmo's residents.

At Club Gitmo, the guest is always right.

In contrast, let's take a look at some other guests of the American taxpayer and the facilities they merit..

7 American Marines and one Sailor are currently being held virtually incommunicado in the brig at Camp Pendleton because of an accusation that they are all connected in the murder of a civilian in Iraq.

Because a former marine officer turned congressman named John Murtha made an issue by accusing them of being `murderers' on national television, they have been treated very differently that the guests at Club Gitmo, and it's obvious that they are being made an example of as a political sop to the 'Arab street'.

According to one of the defence attorneys, former brigadier General David Brahms,the government’s case seems to rest primarily on statements signed by the accused themselves, statements that defenders of the "Pendleton 8" say are highly suspect.

In spite of the fact the accused hail from all over the country, each with different dialects. educational levels and outlooks from their upbringing, Brahms said the statements "look remarkably alike."

The government has yet to comply with rules of discovery and share any other evidence it may have with defense attorneys or allow the defense to examine the alleged crime scene...so the case basically depends on statements screwed out of incarcerated and intimidated junior enlisted personnel, by Iraqis with a probable axe to grind, and on a completely contaminated crime scene in Iraq that the defence attoneys were forbidden access to.

Lovely.

According to Brahms, several of the marines were kept incarcerated in high security solitary lockdown for a month before charges were even filed. And the NCIS (Naval Crimes Investigation Service) put each of the accused in a room for up to eight hours without food or bathroom breaks, threatened them with facing the death penalty if they didn’t cooperate, wrote up statements for them rather than taking statements, then browbeat the suspects into signing them.

The attorneys allege that the accused were told if they signed there would be some form of non-judicial punishment, such as being busted down a stripe. Instead, after they signed, those promises were broken and they were flown to Camp Pendleton and placed in lockdown in the brig. Unlike the guests at Cub Gitmo, the accused, until last week, were kept under Maximum Security, Solitary Confinement and normally shackled whenever they were out of their cells.

There have also been complaints about the defendents receiving adequate medical care. One of the marines, Lance Corporal Lawrence Pennington was reportedly denied a dental visit for three months, in spite of his complaints about pain.

I guess it's all in the vacation plan you sign up for: Enlist as an Islamic terrorist and a known murderer and you too may end up with a tropical island paradise vacation at Club Gitmo.

Enlist as a marine or sailor and get on the wrong side of a headlines seeking congressman and a military pushed to be politically correct and you are presumed guilty until proven innocent - and end up with much less desireable facilities and amenities.

Anybody need any more evidence that we're not taking this war seriously?