The op-ed by a detainee at Guantanamo Bay (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/15/opinion/hunger-striking-at-guantanamo-bay.html) published in the New York Times on Monday set off a wave of reaction.
Samir Naji al Hasan Moqbel--who said he has been detained at the prison for over 11 years without a trial or even a criminal trial--wrote a gruesome account of his experience as a hunger striker there:
Last month, on March 15, I was sick in the prison hospital and refused to be fed. A team from the E.R.F. (Extreme Reaction Force), a squad of eight military police officers in riot gear, burst in. They tied my hands and feet to the bed. They forcibly inserted an IV into my hand. I spent 26 hours in this state, tied to the bed. During this time I was not permitted to go to the toilet. They inserted a catheter, which was painful, degrading and unnecessary. I was not even permitted to pray. I will never forget the first time they passed the feeding tube up my nose. I can't describe how painful it is to be force-fed this way. As it was thrust in, it made me feel like throwing up. I wanted to vomit, but I couldn't. There was agony in my chest, throat and stomach. I had never experienced such pain before. I would not wish this cruel punishment upon anyone.
The op-ed was accompanied by a harrowing illustration (http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2013/04/15/opinion/0415OPEDrota.html).
The Times has published op-ed pieces written by former detainees at Guantanamo (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/opinion/sunday/my-guantanamo-nightmare.html), but the voices of detainees currently held there rarely break through. The reaction was swift, with some seemingly as astonished by the mere fact of the op-ed's existence as by Moqbel's account. It spoke to the continuing ability of the Times to influence political conversation.
"This is eye-opening," the actor Mark Ruffalo tweeted (https://twitter.com/Mruff221/status/323756603780239360).
"Deeply disturbing," the Washington Post's Gene Weingarten wrote (https://twitter.com/geneweingarten/status/323766054830624769).
"Kudos to the NYT for publishing one of the most powerful Op-Eds ever," the Guardian's Glenn Greenwald--no friend of the paper--added (https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/323768542694612992).
Carol Rosenberg, who has been covering Guantanamo for over a decade, unearthed a picture of Moqbel (https://twitter.com/carolrosenberg/status/323766695510568960), which she said had been released by WikiLeaks.
Ari Fleischer, the former spokesman for George W. Bush, had a more dismissive attitude to the op-ed:
Interesting 2see today what gets more MSM pick up...Gosnell oral HASAN MOQBEL, Gitmo terrorist, who has an op-Ed in NYT.
-- Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) April 15, 2013 (https://twitter.com/AriFleischer/status/323764405890338816)
Via: HuffingtonPost