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Most were non-belligerents. In fact, a shocking 95% were seized randomly by bounty hunters, then sold to US forces for $5,000 per claimed Taliban and $25,000 for supposed Al Qaeda members. At least 20 were children, some as young as 13.
In his first February 2006 report, profiling 517 detainees through analysis of Defense Department (DOD) data, Denbeaux found:
-- only 8% "were characterized as al Qaeda fighters;"
-- 55% committed no hostile act against US or coalition forces; and
-- of the remaining 37%, most had no connection to either Al Qaeda or Taliban forces, based on the Pentagon's assessment.
In his latest March 2011 report, Denbeaux headlined, "Rumsfeld Knew: DoD's 'Worst of the Worst' and Recidivism Claims Refuted by Recently Declassified Memo," explaining that:
Rumsfeld's memo showed he lied, calling into question whether anything he, or other Pentagon officials, said was true. In fact, Denbeaux's reports refute virtually everything from official and major media sources, exposing their deception in detail. They show the vast majority (perhaps all) Guantanamo prisoners were and still are innocent or "low-value" detainees, posing no terrorist threat to America or other nations.
In other words, even the DOD knew they incarcerated innocent men and children, America's media going along with the ruse, notably The New York Times, the lead source of US propaganda.
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