Who do you trust?

In a recent UPI article, former President Clinton states the following:

It is time that there are no more stories coming out of there about people being abused

So obviously Clinton trusts the suspected terrorists that are housed at Gitmo to tell the truth about their captivity more than he trusts the US military. For the sake of argument, let's assume that horrible atrocities are occurring there and that we choose to "clean up" Gitmo as Clinton suggests. Will stories of abuse stop? Or will the enemy still attempt to seek favor with the media and general public by continuing to tell the stories of abuse, regardless of the truth?

Jim Geraghty over at TKS reports on a different viewpoint... That of a chaplain who ministered to the Joint Detention Operation Group in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from May 2004 until March 2005.

1. The detainees have direct access to the International Red Cross representatives contrary to the accusations that they have no outside contact. Also, all the detainees are allowed to write and receive mail from family.

2. The detainees have their food prepared according to Islamic guidelines. The call to prayer is broadcast for them to go to prayer. Each detainee has the direction to Meccah painted in their cell. They are allowed to practice their religion without interference and are given the religious items they need to do so. They are allowed to observe Ramadan.

3. There are strict guidelines and training concerning human rights protections. If a service member sees a violation they are to report it and if asked to violate someone's human rights they are to consider it as an unlawful order. Those who violate are subject to prosecution.

Sounds like a pretty rough go for these guys. But I'm sure this guy is lying. The Al-Qaeda members are certainly more trustworthy and better sources of information than a chaplain...

Look... I don't know what's going on down there any better than any other non-connected civilian. But the simple fact of the matter that psy-ops is a part of modern combat. If the enemy can sway public favor by telling untrue stories, they're going to do it. There were some abuses and these people are in the process of being procecuted. Of course, the abuse has not been as serious as how the detainees were abused in the Al-Qaeda prison camps, no? Let's ask these guys to follow Geneva Convention rules as well while we're accusing our guys of breaking some of these rules, OK?

Update (6/22/05): Michelle Malkin has a good article on the topic. Worth the read...