Aging detainees describe health care woes at Guantanamo 18 years after 9/11

MY EMAIL TO THE AUTHOR:

Hi Amy,

I read with interest your article in Kake.com (http://www.kake.com/story/41390540/aging-detainees-describe-health-care-woes-at-guantanamo-18-years-after-911) about the aging detainees at the US military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
 
From February to June 2002, I was the ranking US Army Medical Department officer with the Joint Detainee Operations Group, Joint Task Force 160, GTMO, Cuba.

My duties included good guy and bad guy care, but I was the eyes and ears for the detention command regarding daily medical issues.

I would attend daily Fleet Hospital (think Navy version of M*A*S*H) meetings, gather updates on detainees held in the detention hospital, observe conditions and operations in the Fleet Hospital, maybe tour or visit Camp X-Ray and Camp X-Ray Medical Facility, visit aid stations and medics for good guy care, attend medical meetings at the GTMO Naval Hospital, check on medical logistics, planning, environmental, preventive medicine and SOP development, return to my office in the Pink Palace (former dental building on McCalla Hill), study medical intelligence gathered by an NCO who interviewed detainees complaining of ailments, and then prepare reports for my boss, the Camp X-Ray Commandant, and for the JDOG Commander.

I kept a journal and later wrote a book, now in it's second edition (2012), called "Saving Grace at Guantanamo Bay: A Memoir of a Citizen Warrior."

I am writing you to tell you that the detainees are insidious. 

They were trained in how to disrupt detention operations, and are sworn to lie about their condition and treatment in captivity. They were trained to use lawfare as a weapon against their captors, and to challenge everything legally.

My experience with detainees, both at Gitmo in 2002, and later in Iraq, in 2004-2005, is that they rarely follow instructions regarding their healthcare, whether it is with their medication (typically, they may or may not take prescriptions, or if they do take them, take them only intermittently, or stop altogether if they don't like the side effects or feel they are better), physical or occupational therapy or surgery. 

Whether they believe it or not or are just trying to be difficult, there is a lack of trust, generally speaking between the detainees and western medicine. One would need to think that this mistrust is conjured at this stage. 

In the early days we would see a lot of battle injuries at Gitmo, including broken bones, open wounds, disfigurement, missing limbs, internal and external injuries, diseases, illnesses, poor nutrition, etc.
At this point, most detainees (there are 41 left at Gitmo), should be fairly stable.
 
Believe me, one of my basic complaints through my chain of command at Gitmo was not about the quality of care given the detainees, which is still world class (dental and vision care included), it was about good guy care, which in my opinion, especially considering the Naval Base at GTMO has modern medical facilities, was sub-par and obviously not the main focus of the medical mission at Gitmo.

We established good guy care in aid stations, but since transportation at Gitmo was so sparse and unreliable, it was not uncommon for soldiers (mostly Military Police Guards) to have to walk, sometimes several miles, to a good guy medical treatment facility. The hospital was off limits except for emergencies, and the robust medical facilities established at Camp X-Ray and the Fleet Hospital were detainee care only facilities. Leaving most treatment for good guys a Level One or Two - or combat medic treatment in the field or living areas.

Anyhow, I sense a combination of disruption and lack of cooperation with regard to those detainees discussed in your article.
 
Nothing can be trusted from the detainees. These are the worst of the worst.
 
The doctors, nurses, technicians, specialists and other medical personnel at Gitmo are among the finest, most professional in the world. Military medical personnel do what they do for a reason, they love it. They are also trained to treat enemy patients with the SAME care and compassion as they would US or allied personnel. We treat the whole person, not just the injury. I assure you, the medical treatment for the detainees is exceptional, and focuses on facts, not fantasies.

I observed nothing but heroic actions by every medical person I saw interact with detainees, both at Gitmo and then later in Iraq. Our mission is to heal. Anything mentioned to the contrary is suspect in my mind.

Maybe someday a courageous journalist or writer will want to tell the other story of Gitmo, like I did, the one that shows the insidious nature of the detainees, and the brave, ethical and moral treatment they receive, despite their attempts to confound the medical staff, and fool everyone they meet.

Sincerely,

Montgomery J. Granger
Major, US Army, Retired