Gitmo is a mistake. There's little doubt that American ultranationalist (and far lefties as well) would judge this administration harshly if it didn't do EVERYTHING conceivable for: 1) prevention of future attacks and 2) punishment of attackers. Gitmo should not be part of our country's legacy.
I have no particular knowledge about murders or suicides other than scattered press reports. But one account was striking in its detail. A Pakistani who spent time in Gitmo reported receiving multiple forced injections. The US/DOD/DOJ claims no medication was forced onto prisoners at Gitmo. If anything, official reports say prisoners get far better food and medical care than they received in their previous environs. In fact, I believe some official claimed the average prisoner had gained over 10lbs (of course that might be secondary to less than 1hr of total rec time a week and the typical USDA diet).
Anyway, this Pakistani reported getting an injection against his will that caused
acute dystonia. The account is credible to me b/c 1) I'm a neuropsychopharmacology stud, 2) the detail of his experience is how EVERY patient I've ever encountered describes the experience and behaves, 3) the most common offenders,
neuroleptics otherwise known as antipsychotics, are often used
inappropriately in American ERs for agitated patients, and 4)
haloperidol (Haldol) is a primary offender, it's cheap, it's available in an IV and IV depot (single shot works for 2-4wks).
I've seen far too many Tricare patients to believe the military has decent psychiatric care. It's difficult for me to believe the US military has dispatched an expert psychiatrist to manage ALL episodes of agitation sufficient to require use of an antipsychotic. Granted, the multiple suicide attempts would certainly prompt a compassionate country to provide psychiatric care.
In summary, our country denies using forced medication but at least one reasonable account appears to contradict that claim. Furthermore, the use of said agents are highly effective at immediately resolving
disruptive behavior, convenient to use, and require no special training if you are generally unconcerned about the long term welfare of the subject. Even if this guy was the only one . . . isn't it a little troubling that our government
might be forcing dangerous medications on people that are ultimately released without ever being charged with any offense?