The case for closing Gitmo

This is one for the archives. Matthew Alexander, a senior interrogator in Iraq makes the ultimate argument in favor of of closing Gitmo.

Anyone who served in Iraq, and veterans on both sides of the aisle have made this argument, knows that the foreign fighters did not come to Iraq en masse until after the revelations of torture and abuse at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. I heard this from captured foreign fighters day in and day out when I was supervising interrogations in Iraq. What the former vice president didn't say is the fact that the dislike of our policies in the Middle East were not enough to make thousands of Muslim men pick up arms against us before these revelations. Torture and abuse became Al Qaida's number one recruiting tool and cost us American lives.

He goes on to point out that they found Zarqawi, because of intelligence gained from detainees who were not tortured, but rather cajoled into giving him up. And on a related note, President Obama's top military adviser Mike Mullen also says Guantanamo should be closed.

I really don't understand how the GOPers fearmongering on Gitmo is getting so much traction, well except for the relentless pushing of the meme by the usual suspects on the TV. I mean we have well over 2 million in prison right now. How on earth is adding a couple hundred more going to change anything?

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