Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
MiamiHerald.com
June 24, 2008 By Michael Melia, Associated Press
The new prison camps commander at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, who was at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, says he won't be meeting with his detainees -- who include the 9/11 attack's confessed mastermind.
Navy Rear Adm. David Thomas told the Associated Press in San Juan in a telephone interview Tuesday that he's not compelled to follow the lead of some of his predecessors who chose to have personal contact with men held at the prison.
''As far as looking them in the eye or meeting with them, that's not part of my role,'' Thomas said.
Thomas, a second-generation Navy officer, raced through flames to rescue one man in the Pentagon and lost a friend in the attack. His uniform from that day is now part of the Smithsonian Institution's American history collection.
But Thomas said his personal experience in the attack has no bearing on his new job, which he started May 27.
''This is a great team to be leading. I'm proud to be leading it. But beyond that, there's no significance to this assignment for me,'' Thomas said.
In January, his predecessor, Navy Rear Adm. Mark Buzby told AP he made a point of going behind the razor wire each week and ``putting eyes on every detainee.''
Another former commander, Army Brig. Gen. Jay Hood, met with prisoners and even convened a short-lived prisoner advisory council in 2005 to address complaints about conditions.
Thomas has kept up one command tradition -- like a former Navy commander Rear Adm. Harry Harris he had military medical staff inserted a tube up his nose to experience ''enteral feeding'' -- the process imposed on hunger-striking detainees.
''It is neither harsh or uncomfortable,'' Thomas said. ``I was able to have a conversation during the entire procedure.''
The practice has been criticized as inhumane.
Thomas' two-year assignment could involve dramatic changes since both major presidential candidates say they want Guantánamo closed.
''We'll execute the mission professionally and safely for as long as this camp is open, and closing it or keeping it open is a policy decision made elsewhere,'' Thomas said.
June 24, 2008 By Michael Melia, Associated Press
The new prison camps commander at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, who was at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, says he won't be meeting with his detainees -- who include the 9/11 attack's confessed mastermind.
Navy Rear Adm. David Thomas told the Associated Press in San Juan in a telephone interview Tuesday that he's not compelled to follow the lead of some of his predecessors who chose to have personal contact with men held at the prison.
''As far as looking them in the eye or meeting with them, that's not part of my role,'' Thomas said.
Thomas, a second-generation Navy officer, raced through flames to rescue one man in the Pentagon and lost a friend in the attack. His uniform from that day is now part of the Smithsonian Institution's American history collection.
But Thomas said his personal experience in the attack has no bearing on his new job, which he started May 27.
''This is a great team to be leading. I'm proud to be leading it. But beyond that, there's no significance to this assignment for me,'' Thomas said.
In January, his predecessor, Navy Rear Adm. Mark Buzby told AP he made a point of going behind the razor wire each week and ``putting eyes on every detainee.''
Another former commander, Army Brig. Gen. Jay Hood, met with prisoners and even convened a short-lived prisoner advisory council in 2005 to address complaints about conditions.
Thomas has kept up one command tradition -- like a former Navy commander Rear Adm. Harry Harris he had military medical staff inserted a tube up his nose to experience ''enteral feeding'' -- the process imposed on hunger-striking detainees.
''It is neither harsh or uncomfortable,'' Thomas said. ``I was able to have a conversation during the entire procedure.''
The practice has been criticized as inhumane.
Thomas' two-year assignment could involve dramatic changes since both major presidential candidates say they want Guantánamo closed.
''We'll execute the mission professionally and safely for as long as this camp is open, and closing it or keeping it open is a policy decision made elsewhere,'' Thomas said.