From the AP: Gitmo Detainees Say They Were Sold

Get the story here!

It appears to be a story of grave injustice. There are Arab and Chinese Muslims fleeing Afghanistan, lured by greedy tribesman that see US dollar signs on their foreheads. There's the system of bounties that the US authorities use to secure terrorists from local Pakistani tribesmen. Open and shut--Gitmo bad, captives innocent, shut it down. Right? Wrong.

Buried in the story is this:

The military-appointed representative for one detainee - who said he was a Taliban fighter - said the prisoner told him he and his fellow fighters "were tricked into surrendering to Rashid Dostum's forces. Their agreement was that they would give up their arms and return home. But Dostum's forces sold them for money to the U.S."

Several detainees who appeared to be ethnic Chinese Muslims - known as Uighurs - described being betrayed by Pakistani tribesmen along with about 100 Arabs.

They said they went to Afghanistan for military training to fight for independence from China. When U.S. warplanes started bombing near their camp, they fled into the mountains near Tora Bora and hid for weeks, starving.

One detainee said they finally followed a group of Arabs, apparently fighters, being guided by an Afghan to the Pakistani border.

"We crossed into Pakistan and there were tribal people there, and they took us to their houses and they killed a sheep and cooked the meat and we ate," he said.

That night, they were taken to a mosque, where about 100 Arabs also sheltered. After being fed bread and tea, they were told to leave in groups of 10, taken to a truck, and driven to a Pakistani prison. From there, they were handed to Americans and flown to Guantanamo.

"When we went to Pakistan the local people treated us like brothers and gave us good food and meat," said another detainee. But soon, he said, they were in prison in Pakistan where "we heard they sold us to the Pakistani authorities for $5,000 per person."

Here, we have a Taliban fighter tricked into surrendering. We have Chinese muslims training to fight for independence from China. Trained by whom? Most likely, Al Queda and the Taliban? And why do they want independence? Most likely to establish some type of sectarian State. In other words, they're terrorists. Another says they "followed a group of Arabs, apparently fighters"...

Why were they following fighters? Surely they had to know who these Arab fighters were retreating from, right?

These are supposed to be innocent Muslims caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Perhaps they didn't directly fight US forces or allies. However, some of these innocents received aid from the enemy. Others trained to engage in terrorism against another sovereign state. They don't sound to innocent to me!

The rest sounds like he-said, he-said. But don't just take my word for it. Read the article and judge for yourself.