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Bagram: America's Second Guantanamo

CBS News has a new report on the U.S. detention program at Bagram in Afghanistan:

Today, there are more than 3,000 detainees at Bagram, or five times the number (around 600) when President Barack Obama took office in January 2009. There are currently 18 times as many detainees at Bagram than at the U.S. military prison at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, naval base, whose prisoner population has dwindled from a peak of 780 to 170.

The military has changed the name of the facility to the Detention Facility in Parwan (DFIP).

DOD is now reviewing bids from contractors to expand the facility to house up to 5,500 detainees. The project is expected to cost another $25 to $100 million when it is completed by the end of 2012.

In May, 2011, Human Rights First published this report on Bagram, Detained and Denied in Afghanistan. At that time, their were 1,700 detainees at Bagram. "The Department of Defense won't release the names of its Bagram detainees or its reasons for holding them indefinitely."

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    Crazy Talk on Torture? Blame Obama (none / 0) (#1)
    by Mr Natural on Mon Nov 14, 2011 at 08:35:46 AM EST
    There is plenty of blame to go around for a world in which presidential candidates gleefully  make arguments that were long ago rejected by the nation's most sensible leaders. You can blame the media for covering this issue as though the competing views were morally or legally equal. You can blame the voters themselves for not demanding more from their candidates. You can blame elected officials in Congress for exhibiting cowardice on topics like civilian trials for terror suspects and closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

    Today, however, I would like to blame President Barack Obama for the silliness we saw and heard [in the Republican debate] Saturday night.


    - Andrew Cohen, The Atlantic