A top US official has described the suicides of three detainees at the US base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as a "good PR move to draw attention". Colleen Graffy told the BBC the deaths were part of a strategy and "a tactic to further the jihadi cause", but taking their own lives was unnecessary. But lawyers say the men who hanged themselves had been driven by despair. A military investigation into the deaths is under way, amid growing calls for the centre to be moved or closed. Speaking to the BBC's Newshour programme, Ms Graffy, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, said the three men did not value their lives nor the lives of those around them. Detainees had access to lawyers, received mail and had the ability to write to families, so had other means of making protests, she said, and it was hard to see why the men had not protested about their situation.
Colleen Graffy told the BBC the deaths were part of a strategy and "a tactic to further the jihadi cause", but taking their own lives was unnecessary. But lawyers say the men who hanged themselves had been driven by despair.
A military investigation into the deaths is under way, amid growing calls for the centre to be moved or closed.
Speaking to the BBC's Newshour programme, Ms Graffy, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, said the three men did not value their lives nor the lives of those around them.
Detainees had access to lawyers, received mail and had the ability to write to families, so had other means of making protests, she said, and it was hard to see why the men had not protested about their situation.
According to the Planning Group for Integration of USIA into the Dept. of State (June 20, 1997), public diplomacy is defined as follows: "Public Diplomacy seeks to promote the national interest of the United States through understanding, informing and influencing foreign audiences."
"Public Diplomacy seeks to promote the national interest of the United States through understanding, informing and influencing foreign audiences."
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy?
..."understanding, informing and influencing"?
Sometimes I think they make these gaffes on purpose. How else can one explain this?
From the NYT:
Democrats in the United States said little, apparently concerned about appearing to be sympathizing with detainees who could turn out to have significant terrorist connections.
But earlier, the camp commander, Rear Adm Harris said he did not believe the men had killed themselves out of despair. "They are smart. They are creative, they are committed," he said. "They have no regard for life, either ours or their own. I believe this was not an act of desperation, but an act of asymmetrical warfare waged against us."
"They are smart. They are creative, they are committed," he said.
"They have no regard for life, either ours or their own. I believe this was not an act of desperation, but an act of asymmetrical warfare waged against us."
LONDON (Reuters) - A senior U.S. official rowed back on Monday from remarks by colleagues that Guantanamo Bay prisoners' suicides were an act of war and a "good PR move," after the comments were condemned abroad. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs Cully Stimson, speaking to BBC radio, distanced himself from the statements. "I wouldn't characterize it as a good PR move. What I would say is that we are always concerned when someone takes his own life. Because as Americans, we value life, even the lives of violent terrorists who are captured waging war against our country," he said. The camp commander, Rear Admiral Harry Harris, had described the three suicides as an act of war. Colleen Graffy, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for public diplomacy, told the BBC on Sunday the deaths were "a good PR move." In an editorial headlined "Bad Language," the right-leaning Times, normally a defender of Britain's alliance with the United States, said such rhetoric "plays once again into the hands of America's enemies." The left-leaning Guardian described Admiral Harris's remarks as "cold and odious." "The demented logic of Dr Strangelove hung like a ghost" over the U.S. response to the suicides, it said. Britain has been Washington's closest ally in Afghanistan and Iraq, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been cautious in criticizing Guantanamo, which he describes as an "anomaly." But senior British officials have increasingly openly called for the camp to be closed down. "If it is perfectly legal and there is nothing going wrong there, why don't they have it in America?" Constitutional Affairs Minister Harriet Harman said. "It is in a legal no man's land. Either it should be moved to America and then they can hold those people under the American justice system or it should be closed." ...
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs Cully Stimson, speaking to BBC radio, distanced himself from the statements.
"I wouldn't characterize it as a good PR move. What I would say is that we are always concerned when someone takes his own life. Because as Americans, we value life, even the lives of violent terrorists who are captured waging war against our country," he said.
The camp commander, Rear Admiral Harry Harris, had described the three suicides as an act of war. Colleen Graffy, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for public diplomacy, told the BBC on Sunday the deaths were "a good PR move."
In an editorial headlined "Bad Language," the right-leaning Times, normally a defender of Britain's alliance with the United States, said such rhetoric "plays once again into the hands of America's enemies."
The left-leaning Guardian described Admiral Harris's remarks as "cold and odious." "The demented logic of Dr Strangelove hung like a ghost" over the U.S. response to the suicides, it said.
Britain has been Washington's closest ally in Afghanistan and Iraq, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been cautious in criticizing Guantanamo, which he describes as an "anomaly."
But senior British officials have increasingly openly called for the camp to be closed down.
"If it is perfectly legal and there is nothing going wrong there, why don't they have it in America?" Constitutional Affairs Minister Harriet Harman said.
"It is in a legal no man's land. Either it should be moved to America and then they can hold those people under the American justice system or it should be closed."
...
