The main inmate in question is local to me and I've been to hear him speak on a few occasions - very articulate, passionate in his condemnation of terrorism and religious extremism, and surprisingly measured in his condemnation of over-reaction by the Bush administration.
Anywho. . . some main headlines from the article.
Quote:
"You look different without a cap."
"You look different without the jump suits."
With those words, an extraordinary reunion gets under way.
"You look different without the jump suits."
With those words, an extraordinary reunion gets under way.
Quote:
Mr Neely was 22 when he worked at the camp and left after six months to serve in Iraq. But after quitting the military his doubts about Guantanamo began to crystallise. This led to a spontaneous decision last year to reach out to his former prisoners.
"I was pretty new to Facebook and decided to type in their names to see if their profiles popped up and I came across Shafiq's Facebook page. I decided to send him a little e-mail," says Mr Neely
"I was pretty new to Facebook and decided to type in their names to see if their profiles popped up and I came across Shafiq's Facebook page. I decided to send him a little e-mail," says Mr Neely
Quote:
But what were the pair doing in Afghanistan in 2001?
They explain that, being in their late teens and early twenties at the time, they had made a naive, spontaneous decision to travel for free with an aid convoy weeks before a friend's wedding, due to take place in Pakistan.
Mr Ahmed admits they had a secret agenda for entering Afghanistan, but it wasn't to join al-Qaeda.
"Aid work was like probably 5% of it. Our main reason was just to go and sightsee really and smoke some dope".
They explain that, being in their late teens and early twenties at the time, they had made a naive, spontaneous decision to travel for free with an aid convoy weeks before a friend's wedding, due to take place in Pakistan.
Mr Ahmed admits they had a secret agenda for entering Afghanistan, but it wasn't to join al-Qaeda.
"Aid work was like probably 5% of it. Our main reason was just to go and sightsee really and smoke some dope".
tl;dr GFY