It was less than two weeks ago that we quoted lawmakers detailing how sunny life can sometimes be for the detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay:
While it’s no tropical paradise, GOP lawmakers said it isn’t the hellhole that many paint it. “Despite some of the earlier and changing popular perceptions about Guantanamo Bay, there is a great emphasis from top to bottom about decency, about treating human beings down there in a manner consistent with international norms, the rule of law and our own laws,” Rep. Todd Young, R-Ind., said following the one-day visit. His colleagues agreed. “They have a library where they have access to several thousand books,” Rep. Bobby Schilling, R-Ill., noted. “They get to watch TV.” The chairman was impressed. “The last thing we saw was a group of detainees out in the field playing soccer,” McKeon said. “They seem to be enjoying themselves very well.”
Latest data point: according to U.S. Southern Command, Awal Gul, a 48-year-old Afghan detainee, died Tuesday night at Gitmo after “he collapsed in the shower after exercising on an elliptical machine.”