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Mohamedou Ould Slahi QUOTES

Mohamedou Ould Slahi QUOTES

81 " Los Angeles Times titled “No Leaders of al Qaeda Found at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba” quoted government sources who said that there were “no big fish” in custody there, and the island’s nearly six hundred detainees were not “high enough in the command and control structure to help counter-terrorism experts unravel al Qaeda’s tightknit cell and security system.”18 "

― Mohamedou Ould Slahi , Guantánamo Diary: Restored Edition

82 " The United States seeks to detain Mohammedou Ould Salahi on the grounds that he was “part of” al-Qaida not because he fought with al-Qaida or its allies against the United States, but rather because he swore an oath of allegiance to the organization, associated with its members, and helped it in various ways, including hosting its leaders and referring aspiring jihadists to a known al-Qaida operative.29 "

― Mohamedou Ould Slahi , Guantánamo Diary: Restored Edition

83 " I left Canada mainly because the U.S. had pitted their security services on me, but they didn’t arrest me, they just started to watch me. Being watched is better than being put in jail, I realize now; ultimately, they would have figured out that I am not a criminal. “I never learn,” as my mom always put it. I never believed that the U.S. was evilly trying to get me in a place where the law has nothing to say. "

― Mohamedou Ould Slahi , Guantánamo Diary: Restored Edition

84 " I have only written what I have experienced, what I saw, and what I learned firsthand. I have tried not to exaggerate, not to understate. I have tried to be as fair as possible, to the US government, to my brothers, and to myself. I don’t expect people who don’t know me to believe me, but I expect them at least, to give me the benefit of the doubt. And if Americans are willing to stand for what they believe in, I also expect public opinion to compel the US government to open a torture and war crimes investigation. I am more than confident that I can prove every single thing I have written in this book if I am ever given the opportunity to call witnesses in a proper judicial procedure, and if military personnel are not given the advantage of straightening their lies and destroying evidence against them. "

― Mohamedou Ould Slahi , Guantánamo Diary: Restored Edition

85 " [...]Pelo que eu sabia sobre os fundamentos dos instrumentos de telecomunicação, fiquei aterrorizado quando eles me taparam os ouvidos com o que parecia ser um fone de ouvido. Pensei que era um novo método dos Estados Unidos para extrair informações de meu cérebro e enviá-las diretamente para um computador central que analisaria as informações. Não estava preocupado com o que pudessem extrair de meu cérebro, mas sim com a dor que poderia sentir devido a choques elétricos. Era uma estupidez, mas quando se está aterrorizado não se é mais a mesma pessoa. Você vira criança de novo. "

― Mohamedou Ould Slahi , Guantánamo Diary: Restored Edition

86 " Then the U.S. government started a secret operation aimed at kidnapping, detaining, torturing, or killing terrorist suspects, an operation that has no legal basis. "

― Mohamedou Ould Slahi , Guantánamo Diary: Restored Edition

87 " Human beings naturally hate to torture other human beings, and Americans are no different. Many of the soldiers were doing the job reluctantly, and were very happy when they were ordered to stop. Of course there are sick people everywhere in the world who enjoy seeing other people suffering, but generally human beings make use of torture when they get chaotic and confused. And Americans certainly got chaotic, vengeful, and confused, after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. "

― Mohamedou Ould Slahi , Guantánamo Diary: Restored Edition

88 " Não entendo por que as pessoas nos odeiam. Ajudamos todo mundo!”, afirmou ele uma vez, querendo ouvir minha opinião.
“Nem eu”, respondi. Eu sabia que era inútil tentar esclarecê-lo sobre as razões históricas e objetivas que nos levaram àquele ponto, portanto optei por ignorar o comentário dele; além disso, não seria nada fácil mudar a opinião de um homem da idade dele. Muitos homens e mulheres jovens entram para as Forças Armadas dos Estados Unidos por causa da propaganda enganosa do governo, que leva as pessoas a acreditar que as Forças Armadas são apenas uma grande Batalha de Honra: se entrar para o Exército, você é um mártir vivo; estará defendendo não só sua família, seu país e a democracia americana, mas também a liberdade e os povos oprimidos do mundo inteiro. Ótimo, não há nada errado com isso; pode até ser o sonho de todos os jovens. Mas a realidade das forças americanas é um tiquinho de nada diferente disso. Para ir direto à conclusão: o resto do mundo pensa nos americanos como um punhado de bárbaros vingativos. Pode ser duro, e eu não acredito que o americano médio seja um bárbaro vingativo. Mas o governo dos Estados Unidos aposta até a última ficha na violência como solução mágica de todos os problemas, e assim o país vai perdendo amigos a cada dia, e parece não dar a menor importância a isso. "

― Mohamedou Ould Slahi , Guantánamo Diary: Restored Edition

89 " Mohamedou had joined al-Qaeda in 1991 and sworn a loyalty oath to the organization at that time, but that was a very different al-Qaeda, practically an ally of the United States; Mohamedou has always maintained that the fall of the communist government in Afghanistan marked the end of his participation in the organization. "

― Mohamedou Ould Slahi , Guantánamo Diary: Restored Edition

90 " ■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​ led the interrogation, and ■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​ was a good translator. The other guy didn’t get the chance to ask questions, he just took notes. ■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​ didn’t really come up with a miracle: all he did was ask me some questions I had been asked uninterruptedly for the past three years. ■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​ spoke a very clear English, and I almost didn’t need the translator. He seemed to be smart and experienced. When the night grew late, ■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​ thanked me for my cooperation. “I believe that you are very open,” he said. “The next time we’ll untie your hands and bring you something to eat. We will not torture you, nor will we extradite you to another country.” I was happy with ■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​ assurances, and encouraged in my cooperation. As it turned out, ■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​ was either misleading me or he was unknowledgeable about the plans of his government. "

― Mohamedou Ould Slahi , Guantánamo Diary: Restored Edition

91 " Detainees were not allowed to talk to each other, but we enjoyed looking at each other. The punishment for talking was hanging the detainee by the hands with his feet barely touching the ground. I saw an Afghani detainee who passed out a couple of times while hanging from his hands. The medics “fixed” him and hung him back up. Other detainees were luckier: they were hung for a certain time and then released. Most of the detainees tried to talk while they were hanging, which made the guards double their punishment. There was a very old Afghani fellow who reportedly was arrested to turn over his son. The guy was mentally sick; he couldn’t stop talking because he didn’t know where he was, nor why. I don’t think he understood his environment, but the guards kept dutifully hanging him. It was so pitiful. One day one of the guards threw him on his face, and he was crying like a baby. "

― Mohamedou Ould Slahi , Guantánamo Diary: Restored Edition

92 " When journalists visited the camp that August, the commander of Guantánamo’s detention operations told them his own uniformed officers were questioning the continuing designation of detainees as “enemy combatants” as opposed to prisoners of war entitled to Geneva convention protections. The Pentagon’s solution was to replace that commander and ratchet up the camp’s intelligence operations. "

― Mohamedou Ould Slahi , Guantánamo Diary: Restored Edition

93 " Confessions are like the beads of a necklace: if the first bead falls, the rest follow . "

― Mohamedou Ould Slahi , The Actual True Story of Ahmed and Zarga

94 " You missed that I’m a computer specialist, and I know that the U.S. government would have no problem forging a passport for me,” he said. The interrogators quickly took the passport back and never talked about it again. Scenarios like that made me very paranoid about the government making up something about me. "

― Mohamedou Ould Slahi , Guantánamo Diary: Restored Edition

95 " I always wanted to know where I was going and why. I remember one time when the escorting team refused to tell me where I was going: I thought they were taking me to my execution.* When I entered ■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​ was accompanied by an Arabic Interpreter ■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​. He was very weak in the language. "

― Mohamedou Ould Slahi , Guantánamo Diary: Restored Edition

96 " African tribes sold their people to us,” he replied. “I wouldn’t defend slavery, if I were in your shoes.” I said. "

― Mohamedou Ould Slahi , Guantánamo Diary: Restored Edition

97 " Yes, Jordanians practice torture on a daily basis, but they need a reasonable suspicion to do so. "

― Mohamedou Ould Slahi , Guantánamo Diary: Restored Edition

98 " I’ve answered those questions a thousand and one times; I told you I mean what I am saying and I’m not using any code. You’re just so unjust and so paranoid. You’re taking advantage of me being from a country with a dictatorship. If I were German or Canadian, you wouldn’t even have the opportunity to talk to me, nor would you arrest me. "

― Mohamedou Ould Slahi , Guantánamo Diary: Restored Edition

99 " Yes, Jordanians practice torture on a daily basis, but they need a reasonable suspicion to do so. They don’t just jump on anybody and start to torture him. "

― Mohamedou Ould Slahi , The Actual True Story of Ahmed and Zarga

100 " as of April 1, 2010, the U.S. government had lost thirty-four out of forty-six habeas cases. In appeals of several of those cases, "

― Mohamedou Ould Slahi , Guantánamo Diary: Restored Edition