Postcards from Gitmo
March 22, 2007 7:44 AM   Subscribe

Gitmo in Black and White. Some great photography with narration and chilling stories from the Gulag at Guantanamo Bay. (Has sound. Maybe NSFW, if your workplace is squeamish about our foreign policy)
posted by nevercalm (15 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
"This week marked the fourth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war. Our partners at Magnum Photos are commemorating the event with an interactive audio slide show about the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. Photographer Paolo Pellegrin photographed the camp and its prisoners in 2006. The essay also includes photos of released detainees in London, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Afghanistan."
posted by nevercalm at 7:50 AM on March 22, 2007


Look forward to looking at this (thanks for the sound warning!) when I get home.
posted by twistedonion at 7:58 AM on March 22, 2007


The photos are surreal. Such a strange juxtaposition of barbed wire and cells with the carribean beauty surrounding them. Thanks. The commentary has nothing in it that isn't already common knowledge (if not widespread common opinion) but it's something that needs restating and restating.
posted by talitha_kumi at 8:45 AM on March 22, 2007


More about these images from the photographer himself on Magnum's always interesting blog.
posted by ztdavis at 8:50 AM on March 22, 2007 [1 favorite]


Oh, that's awesome ztdavis...thanks!
posted by nevercalm at 8:55 AM on March 22, 2007


It's so frustrating even looking at the facility. Simply being in such a beautiful area, but in prison, has to be a total mindfuck for inmates.

I'm surprised (no I'm not) that such an egregious case of human rights abuse is allowed to continue. Hopefully the Democrats are going to do something, but "Rights for those accused of terrorism" might not be a winner for 2008. If they don't shut it down, and the population is indifferent, that place is going to be a pen of inequity for the next few decades.
posted by Gnostic Novelist at 9:02 AM on March 22, 2007


"Gulag" is Godwin, I think. Do we have a name for Stalin references?
posted by MarshallPoe at 9:38 AM on March 22, 2007


You're probably right in some respects, but I can't bring myself to actually write "US Detention Facility." Hell, I could barely quote it from the link....
posted by nevercalm at 9:48 AM on March 22, 2007


Yeah, it's about time we came up with a nice name that sums up all the atrocities committed under the Bush administration. So we can stop the Hitler and Stalin references. He's plenty deserving on his own.

US Detention Facility doesn't have the same ring as Gulag or concentration camp. Needs more shazam. Gitmo is quite catchy though and a handy synecdoche much like Gulag.
posted by slimepuppy at 10:22 AM on March 22, 2007


Metafilter: a handy synecdoche much like Gulag.
posted by ztdavis at 11:45 AM on March 22, 2007


There was something very wrong about this being proceeded by a "Raising The Bar" advert for Cingular. I mean, isn't that what this is all about -- in multiple contexts?
posted by Ogre Lawless at 12:07 PM on March 22, 2007


""Gulag" is Godwin, I think. Do we have a name for Stalin references?"

Yes, it's called "Yakov-ing" the thread...
posted by stenseng at 1:24 PM on March 22, 2007


Do you think that in the future, there will have to be a name for the rhetorical device of comparing corrupt and abusive governments to the Bush administration?
posted by stammer at 5:40 PM on March 22, 2007


stammer: the word you are thinking of is probably "hyperbole".
posted by UbuRoivas at 7:22 PM on March 22, 2007


Hopefully the Democrats are going to do something

heh heh. Think they would have by now....
GITMO is beautiful. Father served there for two years in the 50's. I have some wonderful B&W photos before castro came along.

I think they should be tried. But let us recall the 1993 WTC bombing....now the prosecutors were worried stiff about jury tainting through the media. Alot of agencies made thier little phone calls to the media saying this and that. Salema (sic sp) was an idiot, we found a VIN number....see, if you release to much info, the potential jury could be tainted. I think this a central reason why GITMO was used as a detention faculity (and in a communist country...ironic)

Simply being in such a beautiful area, but in prison, has to be a total mindfuck for inmates.

no. total solitary with no direct sunlight, fresh air or human contact is far worse...as to torture, I need to see direct evidence- pictures, medical reports etc. no doubt they suffer (like they want to leave and have the interrogations stop) but i really am not going to lose sleep over that.

Gitmo is quite catchy though and a handy synecdoche much like Gulag.


GITMO is used to refer to the base, a military base.

I like to see this hand wringing and none of you mentioned the internment camps, during WWII, for Japanese americans.
surly you shall find a nice anaology.

stammer: the word you are thinking of is probably "hyperbole".

"Largely synonymous with exaggeration and overstatement, hyperbole (pronounced /haɪˈpɝbəli/ or "hy-PER-buh-lee") is a figure of speech in which statements are exaggerated. It may be used due to strong feelings or is used to create a strong impression and is not meant to be taken literally. It gives greater emphasis. It is often used in poetry and is a literary device. As well as a referendum"

I agree the
name for the rhetorical device of comparing corrupt and abusive governments to the Bush administration? is hyperbole.

have a nice day.
posted by clavdivs at 1:32 PM on March 23, 2007


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