Censors put limits on Guantánamo photos

 

Politics

As if the whole Guantánamo camp wasn’t enough of a travesty - a point well noted outside of the US - here’s something new: “Under the latest rules for ‘operational security,’ there’s now a three-tent rule for photos the public can see of the tents that house journalists and support staff at the expeditionary legal compound […] Broadly, the military explains the need for operational security, or OP-SEC, two different ways. First, they seek to shield from public view any details of this remote base that might help al Qaeda or other enemies of the United States stage an attack. Second, they want to shield from public view the faces of detainees because the Geneva Conventions prohibit the parade or humiliation of prisoners of war.” (source) That’s pretty rich, isn’t it? The first point is obviously ludicrous: Why would anyone want to attack the camp? For “al Qaeda or other enemies of the United States” Guantánamo is a PR gold mine. And the second one is equally absurd: The “detainees” at the camp are denied the protection of the Geneva Conventions (which is why they have to live in that legal black hole) except one: Their faces are not to be shown.