Fixing Hell (31 page)

The BSCT and all medical services are now separate from one another and there is no sharing of medical information. Moreover, we now have the American Psychological Association’s guidelines for psychologists who work in the intel and detention arenas to serve as a guide.

From the day I arrived at Abu Ghraib in June 2004 there were no more incidents of abuse reported by an interrogator or a psychologist, and we handed the prison back to the Iraqis on September 6, 2006, in better condition than we found it. There also have been no incidents of abuse at Guantanamo Bay by either an interrogator or psychologist reported since my arrival in Cuba in January 2003. Clearly, the role of the psychologist on the battlefield in the global war on terrorism has made a difference.

The procedures that were put into place have served to prevent abuses and help ensure that all under our care and custody are treated with humanity and respect.

Epilogue

April 2008

I
t is very fitting that I have been deployed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, once again. The place where I first deployed in support of the global war on terrorism is the place where my twenty-two-year military career ends. Many things have changed since I left Gitmo in May 2003. It is now under the command leadership of the U.S. Navy rather than the Army. When I departed here in 2003, there were over 600 detainees. We now have fewer than 275, with plans for the numbers to decrease even more over time.

The harsh tactics are gone and the overall experience has improved for detainees. The minimal living conditions have been replaced with a meal menu that has six choices, state-of-the-art facilities, a cultural adviser, a detainee hospital, and rigid adherence to the Geneva Conventions guidelines. The International Committee of the Red Cross has open access to interview any detainee. Guantanamo Bay Naval Station no longer mirrors an overseas remote-duty station with few amenities. It has matured into a sophisticated military complex with a Starbucks, wireless LAN systems, cell phones, nightly movies at an outdoor theater, rock concerts, regular appearances by celebrities, and frequent visits by family members of those deployed here. The Gitmo detention facility is now state-of-the-art. It has a thirty-bed hospital, with five to ten physicians and fifteen nurses on duty. The inpatient psych unit has a psychologist, psychiatrist, nurses, and psych techs dedicated to treating the mental health needs of the detainees. Many of the detainees have attorneys and there have been over a thousand legal visits in 2007 alone.

Admiral Mark “Buz” Buzby is the commander of Joint Task Force Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He is a far cry from the early leaders at this facility. A Merchant Marine Academy graduate and polished gentleman, he is indeed a career military officer. He and his deputy commander, Brigadier General Cam Cameron, dispel the notion that you have to be a foulmouthed jerk to be a great military leader. They have set a tone of decency and respect for all of Gitmo. They simply would not tolerate abuse, hate, torture, or anything that resembles indecency. The chief of staff, Navy captain Pete Husta, was brought in to organize and carry out the admiral’s intent of “humane care and custody” for the detainees. Captain Husta is a brilliant organizer and motivator and has a way of getting the task force to move in the right direction at all times.

Navy captain Pat McCarthy is the senior attorney at Gitmo. He and his deputy commander, Dan Jones, are two of the finest legal minds I have come to know. They, together with their large legal team, keep us on the right side of the Geneva Conventions and common sense. They are hypervigilant at making sure Gitmo does its very best to always take the correct moral and legal road.

Paul Rester is the director of the Joint Intelligence Group at Gitmo. He brings to the job four decades of skill, experience, and most important, humanity. Paul would simply not tolerate any of his interrogators abusing any one—I admire and respect him. Also, the FBI has a large detachment there and works hand-in-hand with the DOD intel community. One complements the other and as a result, the level of skill, expertise, and professionalism is increased tenfold.

The biggest change is that the guard force is under the command of a career Army military police officer by the name of Colonel Bruce Vargo. He was command-selected for this position rather than being a reservist who was randomly assigned here with his reserve unit. Back in 2002 and 2003, many of the leaders here were reserve officers, and although they had good intentions, many of them simply didn’t know what they were doing. That has changed. The reserve and guard force today have come a long way. The soldiers, sailors, and marines who make up the task force here are well trained and represent the best America has to offer. Colonel Vargo is a graduate of the Army War College and brings to Gitmo and the Joint Task Force a level of competence that was lacking in 2002 and 2003 among the guard force leadership. His leadership has made a difference. Now the guard force is incredibly well trained and is far superior to the untrained guards of the early Abu Ghraib and Gitmo abuse era. Clearly, abuse and torture will not be tolerated, from the youngest private to the senior officer. We are one another’s keeper and are always hypervigilant against abuse and torture. I am fully confident about what would happen if I walked into the detainee camp late one night, found a young guard on duty, and suggested we take one of the prisoners out of his cell so we could rough him up and try to get some intel, maybe even have some fun along the way. That young sergeant would look at this colonel and say, “No sir. That is against my orders,” and then he’d be on the phone immediately, within minutes, reporting the incident to his superiors. And I’d be in a shitload of trouble. That’s exactly what should happen, and I sleep easy at night knowing that this culture is now the norm at Gitmo.

The biscuit at Gitmo is alive and well, established as a major and important part of the mission. All biscuit officers at Gitmo and around the world receive intense training prior to serving in a biscuit capacity. Unlike Major Leso, these young officers come to the fight well trained and incredibly prepared. They will have read all that has been written on their roles, duties, and functions in detention facilities. Moreover, there is now a network of biscuits available for consultation 24/7. We did not have this when I arrived here in 2003.

Many have moved on to the next phase in their life. General Miller retired from the Army. Major Leso resigned his Army commission and no longer resides in this country. I think of John often and hope that he is well. Lieutenant Colonel Denise Dobson is now the chief of Walter Reed’s psychology department. On November 1, 2007, she was selected for full colonel. Denise has excelled at helping the Army and the Department of Defense develop policy that serves as the law for those health professionals working in the intel community. She, along with Colonel Banks, myself, and others, developed a course to train all new biscuit psychologists, who now undergo a three-week intensive course coupled with a six-month Web-based portion.

Colonel Banks remains as the command psychologist for the Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg. He has made a real difference in the fight against evil and terrorism. Colonel Banks is the finest operational psychologist I have ever known. Our nation owes him greatly. Lieutenant Colonel Frantz completed his deployment at Abu Ghraib and returned home to chewing tobacco, hunting, and the beauty of rural America. I often think of him and many of the other soldiers I served with in Abu Ghraib and at Gitmo. Almost daily, when I’m fatigued, in pain, and wanting to stop, I think back to the coffin of the young soldier we loaded on that C-130 in Kuwait. Those images have served to fuel me in ways I never could have imagined.

I will retire from the Army at the end of this deployment. I hope to be back in Janet’s arms and never leave her side. I cannot put into words how much I owe her. Her heart, touch, brilliant mind, and humanity have kept me balanced and have allowed me to fight evil in foreign lands around the world. As I write these words, my mind is flipping through a scrapbook in my head and I see clear images of the faces we have lost along the way—fine men and women who fought for their nation and what our nation stands for. Indeed, it has been an honor to walk among America’s best for a little while. I am them, they are me, we are one, in this global war on terrorism. I am a better person, human being, father, soldier, and psychologist for having served. Most importantly, I am a better American and citizen because of my experience with the U.S. military. With pride in my heart, I rest easy knowing that we have such great Americans in the fight, at the tip of the spear, keeping us safe, keeping us strong, fighting for freedom around the world. Indeed it was a privilege to stand between good and evil and be a part of the fight to help save humanity.

This is Biscuit 1 signing out.

Sequence of Events Regarding U.S. Military Prisons in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Abu Ghraib, Iraq

2002

J
ANUARY
11, 2002: U.S. forces transport twenty men seized as enemy combatants in Afghanistan to the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which previously had been used mainly for Navy support and refugee operations.

F
EBRUARY
19, 2002: Civil rights advocates challenge the detainment of the Afghani prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, filing a brief in federal court claiming three of the men are being held illegally. A federal judge soon dismisses the case.

A
PRIL
25, 2002: Construction crews in Guantanamo Bay complete Camp Delta, the more permanent, long-term housing for detainees. The creation of Camp Delta is seen as a signal that the military expects a long-term detainee operation.

J
UNE
2002: Army Major John Leso arrives in Guantanamo Bay to provide psychiatric services to detainees and military personnel.

S
EPTEMBER
20, 2002: The Army assigns Major General Geoffrey D. Miller as commander of Joint Task Force Guantanamo. In this position, Miller is responsible for the entire operation of the military base in Cuba, but by this point the detainee operation has grown large enough and important enough to become his primary focus.

2003

J
ANUARY
2003: Colonel Larry James arrives in Guantanamo Bay to replace Leso and improve the treatment of the detainees.

M
ARCH
19, 2003: Coalition forces begin striking military targets in Iraq. President Bush addresses the nation and says the strikes are “the opening stages of what will be a broad and concerted campaign.”

M
AY
5, 2003: Colonel Larry James leaves Guantanamo Bay after instituting policies intended to prevent prisoner abuse at all military prisons.

A
UGUST
2003: The U.S. military takes over the existing prison facilities at Abu Ghraib in Iraq. The ramshackle buildings had been used for years by the Iraqi government for detaining criminals, the mentally ill, and political prisoners. Most recently, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had used Abu Ghraib to detain and torture his own citizens.

O
CTOBER
2003: The number of prisoners at Abu Ghraib has already reached seven thousand, guarded by ninety-two MPs. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), a humanitarian group that monitors the conditions of prisons and other situations in which people are held against their will, sends a delegation to the prison. The ICRC inspectors report that the U.S. military is abusing prisoners.

O
CTOBER
9, 2003: The ICRC, which also has been monitoring conditions at the detainee camps in Guantanamo Bay, issues a “statement of concern.” The statement calls attention to what the ICRC calls the “deterioration in the psychological health” of detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

O
CTOBER TO DECEMBER
2003: The photos that will become the focus of the investigation into the abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib are taken during this time period.

2004

J
ANUARY
4–8, 2004: Another report from the ICRC states that conditions and treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib are improving.

J
ANUARY
13, 2004: The abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib comes to light when a military policeman with the 800th Military Police Brigade, in charge of security at the prison, gives a computer disk with digital photographs to a military investigator. The photos depict nude detainees at Abu Ghraib piled on top of one another, wearing hoods and electrodes, being taunted by guard dogs, and similar scenes. The photos also depict several identifiable soldiers posing for the camera.

J
ANUARY
14, 2004: One day after the photos are given to the military investigator, the Army launches a criminal investigation into possible abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib.

J
ANUARY
18, 2004: Four days into the investigation, military leaders are certain that some prisoners at Abu Ghraib have been abused. The senior commander in Iraq, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, responds by reprimanding Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, the commander of the 800th MP Brigade who was responsible for preventing the abuse. Sanchez also suspends a National Guard officer and a company commander at Abu Ghraib.

J
ANUARY
19, 2004: Six days after the photos are given to the investigator and five days into the criminal investigation, Sanchez orders an additional investigation of the 800th MP Brigade’s performance at Abu Ghraib.

J
ANUARY
31, 2004: Major General Antonio M. Taguba is appointed to head the investigation into the 800th MP Brigade.

F
EBRUARY
26, 2004: Sanchez confirms in a press conference that seventeen military personnel have been “suspended from their duties” while the investigation continues. He declines to give any further information about allegations against them.

M
ARCH
12, 2004: Taguba delivers his report on the allegations of prisoners at Abu Ghraib to his commanders. The report’s conclusion states that Taguba found evidence of widespread abuse of prisoners, not just isolated incidents.