We buy Arabs at $5000 a head. Not bad!

Washington Post

"SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- They fed them well. The Pakistani tribesmen slaughtered a sheep in honor of their guests, Arabs and Chinese Muslims famished from fleeing U.S. bombing in the Afghan mountains. But their hosts had ulterior motives: to sell them to the Americans, said the men who are now prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

Bounties ranged from $3,000 to $25,000, the detainees testified during military tribunals, according to transcripts the U.S. government gave The Associated Press to comply with a Freedom of Information lawsuit...."


What do I say? NOT BAD!!! Seems like a great tactic. These terrorists use civilians and the poor as cover and human bombs, why is it so terrible that the Americans and company give these people enough money to feed thier entire families for years for turning them in?

Id rather drop a few grand on a house in the hopes of getting some terrorists than a fews bombs. I bet its cheaper too.

Good news indeed.

It sounds like they are kidnapping people and selling them just for the money, even if they were not involved in any terrorism.

But a wide variety of detainees at the U.S. lockup at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, alleged they were sold into capture. Their names and other identifying information were blacked out in the transcripts from the tribunals, which were held to determine whether prisoners were correctly classified as enemy combatants.

One detainee who said he was an Afghan refugee in Pakistan accused the country's intelligence service of trumping up evidence against him to get bounty money from the U.S.

"When I was in jail, they said I needed to pay them money and if I didn't pay them, they'd make up wrong accusations about me and sell me to the Americans and I'd definitely go to Cuba," he told the tribunal. "After that I was held for two months and 20 days in their detention, so they could make wrong accusations about me and my (censored), so they could sell us to you."

Another prisoner said he was on his way to Germany in 2001 when he was captured and sold for "a briefcase full of money" then flown to Afghanistan before being sent to Guantanamo.

Al-Nauimi said a consortium of wealthy Arabs, including Saudis, told him they also bought back fellow citizens who had been captured by Pakistanis.

Khalid al-Odha, who started a group fighting to free 12 Kuwaiti detainees, said his imprisoned son, Fawzi, wrote him a letter from Guantanamo Bay about Kuwaitis being sold to the Americans in Afghanistan.

One Kuwaiti who was released, 26-year-old Nasser al-Mutairi, told al-Odha that interrogators said Dostum's forces sold them to the Pakistanis for $5,000 each, and the Pakistanis in turn sold them to the Americans.

"I also heard that Saudis were sold to the Saudi government by the Pakistanis," al-Odha said. "If I had known that, I would have gone and bought my son back."

Please point out that the "they" you are reffering to are not the Americans. Its a sound tactic to offer rewards, if people of lesser character abuse that, then thats not the USA's fault. I am certain there was at the very least some verification prior to paying anything out.

Originally posted by skippytjc
Please point out that the "they" you are reffering to are not the Americans. Its a sound tactic to offer rewards, if people of lesser character abuse that, then thats not the USA's fault. I am certain there was at the very least some verification prior to paying anything out.

When I said 'they' I was referrinf to Afghan warlords and Pakistanis.

As far as verification is concerned, I don't think they put too much time into that.

Waiting for Gitmo
But it is now clear that many detainees who didn't meet the necessary criteria were brought to Guantanamo anyway. The former operational commander of Guantanamo, Maj. General Michael E. Dunlavey, even traveled to Afghanistan in 2002 to complain that too many "Mickey Mouse" detainees were being sent his way.

If the US is offering bounties for terrorists who are brought in by others to the US soldiers , then its incombent upon the US to have something closely resembling a trial to actually determine a person's guilt or innocence. Merely because someone turned a person in as a terrorist, and just 'happened' to get a payment for it, does not, obviously make that person a terrorist. People captured by US forces in battle and who resist arrest, sure, thats a different story.

Also, its patently obvious that the terrorists could, and probably did, capture some regular folk, sell them to the US for 25,000 bucks, and then use that money to fund their jihad.

half that # is something you assume, i am sure the US has a procedure to look into these things so they are just not paying out cash> like any counter insurgency also it is key to use local inhabitants and have them on your side. Using only US solider to get the bad guys would show incompetance, this shows brains.

How much money has been spent buying detainees??

How many detainess have been trialed and convicted??

Another WASTE of money and ridiculous tatic by the US.

Originally posted by Learned Goat
i am sure the US has a procedure to look into these things so they are just not paying out cash

You do realie that saying 'i am sure there is a procedure' is, infact, assuming, no?? I also assume that they have a procedure, but the method of 'capture' indicates that they might very well have to presume a certian level of innocence on the part of detainess captured that way, as oposed ot thugs caught in the field in combat.

Using only US solider to get the bad guys would show incompetance, this shows brains.

Not saying it shouldn't be done. i am saying that it means you have to use a slightly different method of determining guilt and intterrogation when you have suspects.