Mohammed Ismail Agha was 15 when he was sent from Afganistan to Guantanamo. Here is his story:

[Agha] said he and a friend had left their farming community in search of work when Afghan militiamen stopped them. "They said, 'Come and join us,' but we told them we are poor people, jobless, and we don't want to join the militia, we want to earn money," Agha said. "Then they said, 'You are Taliban.' "

Agha said he was handed over to U.S. soldiers, who first took him to the southern city of Kandahar and then to Bagram, where he was held in solitary confinement. He lost track of his friend, Mohammed Wali, in Kandahar and has not seen him since.

He said U.S. forces interrogated him at Bagram Air Base, north of the capital, Kabul, about whether he was a Taliban supporter. Yet once he reached Cuba, there were few questions.

It turns out, Agha is not bitter about his experience:

"At first I was unhappy with the U.S. forces. They stole 14 months of my life," Agha said. "But they gave me a good time in Cuba. They were very nice to me, giving me English lessons. "For two or three days I was confused, but later the Americans were so nice with me, they were giving me good food with fruit and water for ablutions before prayer." Besides teaching him to read and write English, the military provided books in his native Pashto language and a Quran, Islam's sacred book.

Still, his family did not hear from him for ten months --that's how long it took to for them to receive a letter from him through the Red Cross--they did not know if he was dead or alive. Agha did not get a trial. He was not afforded a lawyer. No charges were ever brought against him.

Surely, if as he says, he was barely questioned after reaching Guantanamo, it should not have taken the U.S. military over a year to send him home. The young Mr. Agha is far more forgiving than we would be if he were our son.

[link via Left i on the News]