What Makes an Unlawful Enemy Combatant?

We have been told that Guantánamo holds "the worst of the worst." But on what evidence has the government made this determination?

The Combatant Status Review Tribunals that classify prisoners as "unlawful enemy combatants" have used the flimsiest rationales to label prisoners "threats to national security." According to the Washington Post, karate training, "knowledge of computers," owning a “casio watch” and cook service in the Algerian army have been listed as evidence that detainees endanger America.

Others are accused of fighting against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. This despite the fact that the United States armed and supplied the anti-Soviet "freedom fighters" as part of its Cold War strategy in the 1980s. Other reasons have included traveling to "Mecca, Saudi Arabia and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to visit the holy places," the fact that a prisoner “prays in his cell” and “has expressed dislike of President Bush” (uh-oh).

- Adrian Bleifuss Prados