The Crime of Defending Your Country

I’ve never understood the case of Mohammed Jawad. On August 4, he was released from Guantanamo Bay after 7 years of imprisonment. He returned to Afghanistan.

His crime? He threw a grenade at an American Jeep.

I’m not advocating throwing grenades at American soldiers. But hey–we invaded his country. He was a teenager (maybe as young as 14) who decided to do something. It was war, and he threw a grenade. They threw grenades at Russian jeeps, too.

It wasn’t a hate crime or a terrorist act. It was a kid taking up arms to defend his country against an invader–which we were. A totally justified invader, but an invader nonetheless.

As a result, we kept Jawad at Gitmo for 7 years. I don’t get it. Am I missing something here?

Actually, Jawad may have never even thrown a grenade. He confessed to it only after being tortured by Afghan troops, who then turned him over to Americans. Jawad is illiterate, and his confession was written in a dialect he doesn’t speak. US courts ruled out the confession long ago, but the Bush Administration still wouldn’t release him.

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