Major Kyndra Miller Rotunda(: To some extent, yes, it is Club Gitmo. Detainees live in open bays and have up to 12 hours of exercise time each day. During that time they can participate in a number of sports including basketball, soccer, and ping-pong. They also enjoy an extensive library (Harry Potter translated into Arabic is among the most popular titles), a selection of videos, an exercise facility, and even a garden. Detainees receive the call to prayer five times a day and during that time the guards cannot interrupt detainees for at least 20 minutes. This restriction even applies to detainees who are not praying. The best evidence of how detainees are treated in Gitmo is their own re...

Major Kyndra Miller Rotunda(: To some extent, yes, it is Club Gitmo. Detainees live in open bays and have up to 12 hours of exercise time each day. During that time they can participate in a number of sports including basketball, soccer, and ping-pong. They also enjoy an extensive library (Harry Potter translated into Arabic is among the most popular titles), a selection of videos, an exercise facility, and even a garden. Detainees receive the call to prayer five times a day and during that time the guards cannot interrupt detainees for at least 20 minutes. This restriction even applies to detainees who are not praying. The best evidence of how detainees are treated in Gitmo is their own report. One was offered release and decided to stay until the weather was warmer in his own country. Another closed his letters home with, “wishing you were here” and a third even asked the U.S. government to move his entire family to Gitmo.

Hands down, the worst thing about Guantanamo Bay is the public affairs aspect. For an unknown reason, the Department of Defense refuses to answer criticisms about Guantanamo Bay and has allowed untrue rumors to blacken America’s international reputation. The Church Committee (headed by Vice Admiral Church) investigated claims of “torture” and detainee mistreatment in Guantanamo Bay. It interviewed nearly 1,000 people and combed through countless documents. In Guantanamo Bay, there had been over 24,000 interrogations and investigators found only three incidences of abuse in Gitmo. Two of them involved female interrogators who “touched and spoke to detainees in a sexually suggestive manner.” For example, one sat briefly on a detainee’s lap and put her arms around his neck.