More on Those Treacherous Guantanamo Suicides

(Cross-posted at Blanton's and Ashton's.)

The New York Times breaks an astounding exclusive story today: The three Guantanamo detainees who committed suicide on Saturday hid themselves from guards while in the process of killing themselves, in blatant and shocking acts of deception intended to keep the guards from finding them and discovering the heinous act of war that they were committing by taking their own lives.

Prisoners' Ruse Is Suspected at Guantanamo

By DAVID S. CLOUD and NEIL A. LEWIS
Published: June 12, 2006
WASHINGTON, June 11 -- Three detainees at the United States military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, tried to conceal themselves in their cells -- behind laundry and through other means -- to prevent guards from seeing them commit suicide, a senior military official said Sunday.

One of the prisoners hanged himself behind laundry drying from the ceiling of the cell, and had arranged his bed to make it look as if he was still sleeping, said the official, Lt. Cmdr. Robert T. Durand of the Navy. The other two detainees who committed suicide also took steps to prevent guards from seeing that they had put nooses around their necks, he added.

The deception by the prisoners raises questions about how long it took military guards to discover the bodies. Regulations at Guantánamo call for guards to check on each inmate every two minutes.

Military officials said one focus of an investigation into the suicides would be the need for procedural changes, like barring prisoners from doing laundry in their cells.

I guess they wouldn't even consider just, well, you know ... charging the prisoners with a crime and giving them a trial, or letting them go?

The Times also gives us the reassuring news that Democratic leaders in Congress have not undergone a bizarre and unexplained personality change:

Democrats in the United States said little, apparently concerned about appearing to be sympathizing with detainees who could turn out to have significant terrorist connections.

Isn't it depressing to know that, in a world that's never the same from moment to moment, some things that should change and really need to change never do?