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March 20, 2009

Bush Admin Aide: US Knowingly Jailed Innocents Seized in Afghanistan
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A former Bush administration official says the US has continued to jail
many Guantanamo Bay prisoners seized in Afghanistan despite knowing of
their innocence. In an interview with the Associated Press, Lawrence
Wilkerson, the former chief of staff to then-Secretary of State Colin
Powell, said the US held onto the innocent prisoners in the hopes they
could one day provide helpful intelligence. Describing the Bush
administration mentality, Wilkerson said, “It did not matter if a
detainee were innocent. Indeed, because he lived in Afghanistan and was
captured on or near the battle area, he must know something of
importance.” Wilkerson continued, “We need to put those people in a
high-security prison like the one in Colorado, forget them and throw
away the key. We can’t try them because we tortured them and didn’t keep
an evidence trail.” Wilkerson says former Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney fought efforts to improve
vetting of Afghan prisoners.



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