While learning the history of the Guantánamo Naval base (GTMO), time and time again I’ve been struck by a sense of collective confusion and misinformation that has reappeared in the stories of people stationed at the base, as well as detainees and non-American workers who have lived there. The base has often been used…

Given a choice, I would choose to meet Bisher al-Rawi, who was detained at Guantánamo for four and a half years without charge and later released. Listening to his story, the statement that “Guantánamo is a place that makes people lose their minds” really struck me. Detainees, who are held indefinitely and without charge, must…

  As an immigration scholar, I was conscious of the meanings of “Guantánamo” even before I had the opportunity to teach a course dedicated to its specific histories and origins. For immigrants detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), Guantánamo has had an extensive conceptual and symbolic reach. In We Are All Suspects…

“Strictly speaking, the written accent on the second syllable (Guantánamo) is required to indicate the proper Spanish pronunciation. To Americans this is unnecessary. In the half century of United States occupancy, the accent has disappeared. Guantanamo Bay is in effect a bit of American territory, and so it will probably remain as long as we…

“Guantánamo Bay prison is necessary” By Edwin Meese III The detention and interrogation facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, which I have visited, has served and continues to serve an important role in the war against terrorists since it opened 10 years ago. It houses high-value terrorist detainees, like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the architect of September…

Gitmo at Ten: By Scott Horton On January 11, 2002, the first prisoners from the Bush Administration’s “War on Terror” were landed at the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base, a forty-five-square-mile enclave at the eastern end of Cuba that America secured in a 1903 treaty and has held ever since. Today marks the tenth anniversary of…

In the 10 years since the Guantánamo detention camp opened, the anguished debate over whether to shutter the facility — or make it permanent — has obscured a deeper failure that dates back more than a century and implicates all Americans: namely, our continued occupation of Guantánamo itself. It is past time to return this…