This Guantanamo Life

Julian Sanchez | March 13, 2006

This weekend, on an episode called "Haebeas Schmaebeas," This American Life interviews some former Guantanamo detainees, including Badr Zaman Badr, who was interrogated for months about a satirical piece mocking the state of the Afghan economy in which he and his brother responded to Bill Clinton's offer of $5 million for the capture of Osama bin Laden with an offer of 5 million Afghanis—that is, about $113—for the arrest of Bill Clinton. The piece also cites Seton Hall Law School's "Report on Guantanamo", which suggests that the camp does not, contra the Bush adminstrations persistent claims, consist primarily of dangerous terrorists. The show gives an unsettling close-up of how little it takes to be held at Gitmo—and how little protection the current hearing system provides.