Guantanamo Humor Gone Awry
From Stars and Stripes:
If “Guantanamo Prisoners to Receive GI Bill Benefits” sounds like a joke… that’s because it is.
Published by The Lawfare Institute
in Cooperation With
From Stars and Stripes:
If “Guantanamo Prisoners to Receive GI Bill Benefits” sounds like a joke… that’s because it is. But the headline on the popular satirical military news site The Duffel Blog alarmed one Kentucky resident so much that he or she was prompted to write to Congress. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office forwarded the note to the Defense Department, asking officials to review and respond to the constituent’s concerns, according to a copy of the letter obtained by Stars and Stripes. Lt. Col. Todd Breasseale, a Defense Department spokesman, said the department does not comment on its communications with members of Congress and their staffs. However, Breasseale said, “any suggestion that enemy detainees could in any way receive GI Bill benefits is patently absurd.” The Duffel Blog notes on its “About Me” page that it is “in no way, shape or form, a real news outlet. … The content of this site is parody.” Another clue: The “quote” from a (nonexistent) DOD spokesman in the third paragraph: “By allowing the detainees to use the Department of Veterans Affairs, we hope to completely crush their souls with bureaucracy, which to be noted, is completely different than torture.”
Benjamin Wittes is editor in chief of Lawfare and a Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution. He is the author of several books.
