larry johnson shows how the empire though rarely correct is always persistent;

When it comes to dueling Presidents, Donald Trump stole the show today, though not in a good way. Let’s start with Joe Biden’s decision to release 11 Yemenis that have been held in the US Guantanamo Bay prison camp for more than 20 years. While conservatives reacted with outrage to this decision , it was the right one. Two of my CIA buddies have had direct experience with either Guantanamo or the people who were locked up there. Here is what I learned from them.

Way back in January 2003, one of my old CIA pals came to my birthday party in Bethesda, Maryland. We had not talked for more than two years, so we spent some time catching up. I learned he had deployed to Afghanistan in early 2002 and was on the ground involved with a number of operations. He told me that the US was offering a bounty on any Al Qaeda operative still in country and that Afghan tribal leaders were regularly turning over guys to collect a reward. Only one little problem — most of the guys accused of being Al Qaeda were simply poor jamokes who were an easy target for the tribal leaders.

Another friend took a job running the CIA portion of Guantanamo in the 2010-2012-time frame. He told me that at least 60% of the so-called terrorists we had incarcerated at Guantanamo had nothing to do with Al Qaeda. But, instead of admitting the mistake, US officials in Washington insisted on keeping these folks locked up. Many were subjected to torture and abuse.

Guantanamo is a stain on the soul of the American republic. It stands as a symbol of human rights abuses and the fecklessness of US counterterrorism policy. If the US apprehends a person and accuse him of terrorism, the US must put them on trial and afford them the right to defend themselves. But US Presidents — from George W Bush to Joe Biden — have not done that. They have allowed Guantanamo to remain open and have kept innocent men incarcerated. The case of Mohamedou Ould Slahi is emblematic..........more........