RIGHT SPEAK: Gitmo: More like a resort than a Prison

American citizens aren’t the only people having trouble with their weight. Suspected terrorists — the 166 detainees at Gitmo (the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba) — are apparently fighting the battle of the bulge too. The weight gain is not a surprise when you see the amount of food offered to each detainee.

Apparently, the halal meals, and the 5000+ calories per day offered to each inmate at Gitmo are much better than the food the detainees were used to getting, and as far back as 2003 stories surfaced of how many of them have gained weight. Part of the solution to this problem had the U.S. providing the prisoners with treadmills. But not just any kind of treadmill: the detainees reportedly demanded treadmills that were made by Muslim hands.

Paul Sperry of the New York Post reports that in 2007, detainees were given a complete fitness set-up with exercise equipment that also included treadmills. However, complaints were registered within the first week saying, “This stuff is made in the US — made by infidels — and we’re not going to use it.” The Post’s story quotes an unnamed Pentagon official who also claimed that the offensive equipment was removed, given to American troops to use, and Muslim-built equipment was purchased.

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Among the concessions given to these prisoners:

Halal food – a special diet that is prepared in accordance with the strictest of Muslim regulations

A recently-upgraded $750,000 soccer field

Al Jazeera TV

A library with 10,000 books and videos

A Muslim librarian who also stockpiles Arabic TV shows and important soccer matches for watching as desired

Personal copies of the Koran, complete with a Muslim librarian (NY Post says each Koran comes with a little hammock to keep it from touching the ground)