[Mb-civic] Lawmaker Tours Become Part of Guantanamo Life - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

<>Lawmaker Tours Become Part of Guantanamo Life
Pentagon Responds to Critics With a PR Push

By Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, August 6, 2005; Page A01

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba -- As part of a major Pentagon public relations 
offensive, dozens of lawmakers are being flown to the maximum-security 
units here for VIP tours conducted by generals who portray the cells as 
safe and even comfortable places for suspected terrorists to spend their 
days.

The visits, organized by the military in a bid to blunt the impact of 
numerous reports of inhumane treatment and exotic interrogation 
techniques, have become such a routine part of life at this spartan, 
sprawling base that signs on the open doors of two maximum-security 
cells say "Tour Cell."

One aim of the PR offensive is to head off calls from lawmakers of both 
parties for an independent commission -- structured like the commission 
that investigated the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks -- to look into 
the conditions and activities at the Guantanamo Bay prison. The 
administration is also trying to fend off proposed Senate GOP 
legislation to ensure humane treatment of prisoners and to restrict 
interrogation tactics.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/05/AR2005080501568.html

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