COMMENTARY | At a time when Americans are paying four dollars a gallon for gas, are struggling through high unemployment and record foreclosures, it has been reported by Fox News that detainees this spring will be enjoying a new $750,000 soccer field thanks to already strapped American taxpayers. The field, began last April, will be open 20 hours a day for the inmates’ use. Special passageways allow detainees to come and go without being escorted to and from the field.
Though under construction for the last 10 months, the soccer field was only discovered Tuesday during a tour of the facility by reporters who were there to cover the arraignment of Majid Khan, the only legal U.S. resident at the prison. In addition to the new field the detainees will have access to new exercise equipment and a walking trail.
With the national debt soaring and Congress unable to come to terms and pass a budget, the logic of spending tax dollars on a new soccer field when it could be spent on schools, roads, or on the much needed update of the nations infrastructure leaves many Americans scratching their heads. Ongoing discussions about cutting defense spending and reducing benefits for military veterans only add to the confusion of how or why it was decided the prison facility at Guantanamo Bay needed another recreation facility. The new soccer field will give camp six a total of three recreation facilities for inmate use.
While military authorities, who asked not be identified, said allowing outdoor activity helps reduce behavioral issues inside, it also limited interaction with prison guards at the facility. They also stated that the prisoners who would use the new facility were low risk inmates who were “highly compliant.”
It seems things have come a long way since prison officials were being accused of torturing detainees.
Source:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/02/28/guantanamo-detainees-get-new-750g-soccer-field/