Policy

Number of Hunger Strikers at Guantanamo Drops

Or is DoD fudging the numbers?

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Two weeks ago, the Pentagon claimed that 104 of the remaining 166 men at the Guantanamo Bay prison were on hunger strike. Since then, according to Department of Defense figures, 35 hunger strikers have mysteriously abandoned their protest, leaving 69 prisoners still on strike, with 45 being force-fed twice a day.

"Really, we would attempt to get into the heads of the detainees," Pentagon spokesperson Lt. Col. Todd Breasseale said of efforts to stop the hunger strike. "For the long term health of the detainees, we hope that this downward trend continues."