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Did Gitmo Turn 'Lost Kid' Into Suicide Bomber?

Case highlights questions as Obama decides inmates' fate

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Feb 22, 2009 11:19 AM CST

(Newser) – A young Guantanamo inmate described by a lawyer as just "a kid who was lost" ended up bombing an Iraqi army outpost last year, killing 13 soldiers. While he was originally thought to be a low-level Taliban fighter—one of the “least dangerous” at Gitmo—his lawyer says his treatment at the prison fueled his transformation. “Guantanamo took a kid—a kid who wasn't all that bad—and it turned him into a hostile, hardened individual.”

A Post investigation found that misbehavior cost  Abdallah Saleh al-Ajmi his few comforts. He was frustrated by mistreatment and an early lack of legal help, and his lawyer described the Kuwaiti’s shift from polite to vicious. The case raises tough questions for an Obama administration studying what to do with detainees after closing the prison, the Washington Post reports.

In this Dec. 7, 2006 file photo, reviewed by the US Military, a soldier keeps watch from a guard tower overlooking Camp Delta detention center on Guantanamo Bay.
In this Dec. 7, 2006 file photo, reviewed by the US Military, a soldier keeps watch from a guard tower overlooking Camp Delta detention center on Guantanamo Bay.   (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
In this Nov. 18, 2008 file photo, reviewed by the US Military, guards escort a detainee carrying a book from the detainee library trailer to the detention facility in a common area on Guantanamo Bay.
In this Nov. 18, 2008 file photo, reviewed by the US Military, guards escort a detainee carrying a book from the detainee library trailer to the detention facility in a common area on Guantanamo Bay.   (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
In this Dec. 6, 2006 file photo, reviewed by the US Military, a shackled detainee clutching paperwork is escorted to a hearing on Guantanamo Bay.
In this Dec. 6, 2006 file photo, reviewed by the US Military, a shackled detainee clutching paperwork is escorted to a hearing on Guantanamo Bay.   (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 17 comments
Guest
Feb 24, 2009 11:05 PM CST
Corona-King, have you read any of your comments? They are the dumbest.
Forderon
Feb 23, 2009 6:54 AM CST
Did he really? Or did he just stop bombing them when he had the chance and then just pull out and go start another unrelated war, thus making America even less safe?
Guest
Feb 23, 2009 6:30 AM CST
Yup, he bombed terrorists, good riddance.

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