U.S. Has Detained 83, 000 in War on Terror - New York Times: "The United States has detained more than 83,000 foreigners in the four years of the war on terror, enough to nearly fill the NFL's largest stadium. ...
Roughly 14,500 detainees remain in U.S. custody, primarily in Iraq.
The number has steadily grown since the first CIA paramilitary officers touched down in Afghanistan in the fall of 2001, setting up more than 20 facilities including the ''Salt Pit,'' an abandoned factory outside Kabul used for CIA detention and interrogation.
In Iraq, the number in military custody hit a peak on Nov. 1, according to military figures. Nearly 13,900 suspects were in U.S. custody there that day -- partly because U.S. offensives in western Iraq put pressure on insurgents before the October constitutional referendum and December parliamentary elections.
... In Iraq, the Defense Department says 5,569 detainees have been held for more than six months, and 3,801 have been held more than a year. Some 229 have been locked up for more than two years.
About 100 to 150 people are believed to have been grabbed by CIA officers and sent to their home countries or to other nations where they were wanted for prosecution, a procedure called ''rendition.'' Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt are known to cooperate.
... former CIA Director George Tenet said the agency and FBI had ''rendered 70 terrorists to justice.''"
And how many have been prosecuted / given a trial / found guilty? In other words, what has been gained from these extraordinary and appalling detention policies?
- posted by geoff @ #