Weasel words – because truth is the first casualty of war

On par with ‘friendly fire’ and ‘collateral damage’


'Guantanamo is not a prison. The official term is "detention facility". Although the two most recently built complexes, Camps Five and Six, were modelled on prisons in Indiana and Michigan, it is not acceptable to use the word "prison" at Gitmo. Guantanamo has no prisoners, only "enemies". As in "unlawful enemy combatants" or "detained enemy combatants". "Today, it is not about guilt or innocence. It's about unlawful enemy combatants,"

Rear Admiral Harry Harris, the commanding officer of Guantanamo...'Karen Greenberg, executive director of the Centre on Law and Security, New York University School of Law, and editor of The Torture Debate in America. From an article in The Age

According to official records, Army specialist Alyssa Peterson,died on 15 September 2003, from a 'non-hostile weapons discharge'. 'But newly uncovered military documents reveal Peterson actually shot herself with her service rifle. The documents also show her suicide came just two weeks after she refused to take part in further interrogations of Iraqi prisoners and had asked to be reassigned.'From Democracy Now

'an act of asymmetrical warfare' How Rear Admiral Harry Harris, Guantanamo Bay camp commander, described the suicides of three prisoners. Sydney Morning Herald, 12 June 2006.

'In 2003 there were 350 "self-harm" incidents, including 120 "hanging gestures".' Lieutenant Colonel Leon Sumpter, army spokesman Lt Col Sumpter speaking to the press about attempted suicides at Guantanamo detention center. BBC News

The shamelessness and cowardess of this language makes me want to scream with murderous rage.