The editors are pretty happy with the Wikileaks release, writing:
Innocent men were picked up on the basis of scant or nonexistent evidence and subjected to lengthy detention and often to abuse and torture. Some people were released who later acted against the United States. Inmates who committed suicide were regarded only as a public relations problem. There are seriously dangerous prisoners at Guantánamo who cannot be released but may never get a real trial because the evidence is so tainted.
The torture has stopped. The inmates’ cases have been reviewed. But the detention camp in Cuba remains a festering sore on this country’s global reputation. Hampered by ideologues and cowards in Congress, President Obama has made scant progress in healing it.
Evidence obtained from torture and the uncorroborated whispers of fellow prisoners fill the more than 700 classified documents obtained by The Times and other news organizations. Mohammed al-Qahtani, a Saudi believed to have been an intended participant in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, was leashed like a dog, sexually humiliated and forced to urinate on himself. Yet claims Mr. Qahtani is said to have made about at least 16 prisoners are cited in their files with no mention of the coercion.
But this is all old news, no? The details of Mohammed al-Qahtani’s interrogation were released by Time in 2006. Big deal. The Times ends with:
The administration should make its assessments of the remaining Guantánamo detainees public to the extent possible and free lawyers for detainees to fully communicate their clients’ side of the story.
The military commission trial of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and five other alleged Sept. 11 plotters should be pursued by the Defense Department using only evidence that would pass muster in federal court, and with maximum transparency.
The disaster at Guantánamo Bay is now Mr. Obama’s problem. He should not compound Mr. Bush’s mistakes in his efforts to correct them.
Pretty simple, huh? Coming from the folks who can’t come up with a paywall to protect their content, I’d love to see how these elites would actually put their suggestions to President Obama into effect.
What’s of more interest is the MSM, including the Times, is at least focusing on the dangers posed by the terrorists as revealed by Wikileaks. Some headlines:
Der Spiegel: How al-Qaeda planned to bomb Heathrow.
Telegraph: Wikileaks shows Gitmo terrorist radicalized in London.
New York Times: In Gitmo dossier, a push for more attacks post 9/11.
Sorry if I can’t manage the same level of outrage as the Times at Mohammed al-Qahtani forced enemas when he was plotting to kill Americans. In reality, Wikileaks seems to be supporting Bush’s war on terror more than it’s causing any problems for the former administration.