Gitmo Underwear Scandal Oh My God, close the place, let them all go, not an Underwear Scandal........

Doesn't the U.S. Navy have better things to do with it's time?

Have we really got nothing better to investigate than Gitmo's underwear!!! Please ....... we have other vital issues that need our attention. This is definetly not one of them.

Freddie,

While I appreciate your tongue-in-cheek satire, I can understand why the investigation is being pursued with all seriousness. Until they know how these got into a supposedly high security facility, the question nibbling at the back of some minds has to be: "What else has gotten in here that we don't know about?" If my troops were stationed there, not knowing the answer to these questions would be keeping me up at night.

Who gives a rats %$& about underwear?

Just as soon as you introduced the waterboarding here comes the fashion statement.

well soak my drawers! what is this world coming to? it's difficult enough to justify holding these detainees for so long without evidence, without having to explain their taste in briefs. I thought they lived in cages you could see into.

""The truth? You couldn't handle the truth.......""

Jack

Why do we care?

I wonder if the US Govt has questioned the brand and quality of Osama bin Laden's underwear?? Hmmmmm..I wonder if he prefers boxers over the modest Y front jockey shorts?? I can't imagine a man of Osama ever considering Speedos...

I think that a responsible journalist would mention the fact that the attorney has not been allowed to see his client in more than a year & could not have possibly recently smuggled him anything, which is included in the letter you quote other parts of.
The fact that Under Armour briefs are primarily marketed to US military personnel, many of whom have seen the prisoner a lot more recently than his lawyers, might also make it into this story if it were being written by a real journalist for a serious news outlet.
Clearly, as commenter Walker Evans notes above, it is a potentially serious matter that persons deemed so dangerous that all legal rights must be denied them are able to obtain contraband in an ultra-high security military prison; the fact that the US military chooses to approach this serious issue by making clearly frivilous accusations against attorneys who haven't seen the man in over a year, rather than investigating the personnel who see him every day & are highly likely to be Under Armour wearers (it isn't as if he were found wearing wingtips or tasseled loafers, after all) is again the sort of thing that might interest a real journalist working for a serious news outlet.

We don't care about underwear. We DO care about unauthorized stuff getting into prisons - like knives, cyanide pills, etc. Don't tell me you don't get that, people? You don't have to be a fan (or foe) of Gitmo to understand this - it's just common sense. Duh!

Who really cares?? Can you possibly do your job and get to the real news? Wow, underwear, big freaking deal!

Given the history of military behavior at "Gitmo" and related sites, I would bet that some military interrogator gave the speedo as a manner of suggestion that the detainee SHOULD go for a swim in the toilet - and that the Under Armour briefs were meant as a threat upon the recipient's private parts. The Commander should have addressed his remarks to himself, to those under his command, and to the "intelligence" service(s) which have had contact with the detainees. I'll bet this letter simply exposes continuing abuse of "detainees" under military control.

This investigation is an attempt to find who is ahem "supporting" the terrorists!

wow, it's amazing that of all the things that the military needs to get done, they choose to investigate the poor criminals' underwear, while on the other hand, they might have people smuggling drugs across the border. are they really that bored?

Well its better than them wearing white thongs, who knows who has worn them. These guys are dirtbags - the worst. The military are not going to bring Mother Teresa to Guantanamo. They are friendly with terrorists to say the least. For all I care they can rot in prison. No doubt some "friendly" visitor brought them in. As many people that want to "hug" these murders they probably have hundreds of suspects who have visited them.

Who gives a... I don't

LOL, I'm going to take a wild guess here and say that the underwear was brought in by soldiers working there. For what reason, who knows? Maybe a "gift" to try to get someone to spill the beans on something. This really is about as dopey as the time I was called down to the office in Jr.HS, and grilled about why I tossed my lunch into the trash, and went to the restaurant nearby. When they called my mother to let her know I didn't eat the lunch that I brought, she just asked, "Don't you people have better things to do than worry about this kind of "stuff"? Apparently not. Sounds like the people in the Navy need a life too.

Looks like Dept of Homeland Security will have to conduct a (you guessed it)
PANTY RAID!!!!

This prison is a JOKE...it's more like a COUNTRY CLUB! Those "prisoners" are taken care of A LOT better than most AMERICANS!!!

buford,
A serious news outlet?

Ever wonder why they are there? Are they terrorists? Who says so? I know, I know, I support terrorists and all... bull crap. But you're wrong, and here's why: the 350-500 terrorists(?) that the USA has kept from being a free citizen of the earth, have not been proven to be and have not faced trial for terrorism. They are suspects and suspects alone. Being held on suspicion. Based on potential. With that said, where else can this methodology lead us to? How 'bout rape and murder?

Far too many people are being brainwashed into sycophantic behaviors that lead to the rise of tyranny states. History is pleat with examples. America is now one of them.

This is news? And how much of our tax paying dollars are being spent on this ridiculous investigation? These idgits have way better living conditions than my husband does in Iraq. This isn't news, this is garbarge.

Jordan, you cannot be serious. These prisoners have it pretty darn good compared to some of our troops.

Gee, the internets are great. They give people a chance to talk about underwear. Here's a career opportunity: sponsor an underwear blog. Glad you guys don't have anything important to do. Glad I don't either.

I spent 6 years in the U.S.Navy and I was investigated several times in those years for stupid things like disrespect and "tone" but "underwear" this is pure Navy, I was never issued speedos!

Watch "Road to Guantanamo"

I do find it ironic that they are blaming the lawyer. An attorney friend of mine who worked with prisoner's on a regular basis told me that it was generally the guards who were the primary source for contraband.

What's true for the civilian prisons, is most likely true for Gitmo.

This item drew all too many comments by the would be comic "know nothings."

A few got the point, if any contraband got in, then perhaps other contraband got in and may still be getting in. Maybe if one of the terrorists blew up a few of his buddies with C2, the dummy comic commentators would understand. Actually they would not, they would say that "Bush did it."

For those of you who have not fully read the letter, please do. Mr Stafford-Smith's, tongue in cheek response is quite amusing.

Otherwise, I agree with Buford's comments. A little more depth in reporting would be hugely appreciated. If I want a simple visceral response to shallow reporting, I can watch the TV news. Please do your job.

I'm sure the person responsible here is the same person who ate Captain Queegs strawberries, and it deserves the same amount of attention as that earlier nefarious act. I belive that we should shut down all military operations until we find out who took those strawberries, and gave those militants Speedos.

I have a daughter and several nephews on active duty in the military. They have all done their stint in the Middle East. As a mother and aunt of those in harms way, I sure as hell want to know how contraband of any sort gets by the system. Yes, today it's only unauthorized underwear but tomorrow it could be explosives. It's the security system that's under scrutiny and, personally, I see the importance of that.

Unauthorized underwear! What a scandal! We need a full investigation into the unauthorized underwear or else the terrorist win!

I wonder how many of the jokers who've replied here have any military or corrections experience? I don't like Guantanamo, but as long as it's operating,it's our duty to assure safety for jailers and prisoners alike. It's this simple:
A. Something got through the system–a major red flag. No system is unbreakable but this incident shows a weakness has been detected and exploited.
B. Any contraband entering a prison–even a penny or a nickel–assumes a value out of all proportion to the outside world. It may be hard for you people to understand, but people have been killed for a lot LESS than a pair of Speedos.

Got it now? 'Nuf said.

Wow.....How dumb are the Gitmo commanders? Smuggling underwear? Are they serious? THE GUARDS GAVE IT TO THEM! Geez louise we have to spell it out for these morons.

I guess if they've been getting special underwear, they're not as abused as others are claiming them to be, huh??

You people just know how to talk big about yourselves and the rest of the world is an experiment ground for you, these are humans who are caged in guantanamo, atleast i know for sure they did not commit rape, and child abuses of prisoners like Omer Khadr a 15 year old canadian warrior, if the western ways fits us then their ways must be right for them as well, we are the ones always poking our nose in other countries policies and their crap, we sent a barrage of cruise misseles in afghanistan while clinton was in charge and then we saw the retaliation in the shape of tanzania embassey bombings and the destruction of uss cole, and there is no limit for retaliation for humans, if you slap me i can break your teeth for it, its not necessary that i can only slap you to avenge what you did to me.
enemy combatant or whatever you might call them, in the english dictionary terrorist is someone who creates havoc and chaos to achieve personal goals not the goal of a whole nation (muslim), these people fight for a cause and believe, fight fair and results will be fair.

How about a chaplin, a Muslim chaplin? Where are allegiances? What other Muslims are in the area? Who gaines here? Propaganda? Brotherhood? It continues to be a chess match, at all levels. The bond transcends ALL other honor codes!

It wasen't suprise me if it was a lawyer, I am a Corrections Officer and we have caught more than one lawyer bringing in contraband.....including drugs!

Just when you think a joke can't get anymore tasteless, reality strikes again.

A prison guard concerned about the speedos of a prisoner is a gay porn film I have seen a dozen times.

Sounds like someone is making their fantasy come true.

jack

Ok, it's obvious that someone broke the rules but who? It also means the prisoners might be able to get razor blades and other more dangerous items.

It just goes to show that GITMO prisons are also lax. People can can say anything they like but Speedos are big items to get past security.

khadr and his clan are the first family of Al Qaeda! His dad started the terrorist group! and the whole clan has taken family holidays with Bin Laden.

Simply google "khadr terrorist family" and you'll see exactly what the vile islamoNazis khadr and others of his ilk are up to

The real issue is: If this underwear is getting in, what about weapons? Could someone conceivably be shipping knifes to the prisoners at Gitmo?

if speedo's got in what else has?

Some of the responses to this story only highlight why public opinion should have NOTHING to do with military policy. You're right...who cares what underwear they are wearing? But what about the weapon that may have come with it? What about the safety of our men and women? Will those of you who mock the military's concerns be mocking if/when one of our own is killed with that weapon? No, I'm sure that would somehow be the president's fault...sarcasm intended. It is very easy to sit in our comfy homes and pass judgement. Responsiblity for lives does not sit squarely on your shoulders.

SOME OF YOU ARE NOT THINKING

If ANYTHING got in then there is a problem.

A secure facility means nothing in, nothing out.

If you can smuggle in clothes you can smuggle in guns, drugs, cellphones, anything. You can also smuggle out anything

Think before you make idiotic comments about 'Oh my Lord, smuggled underwear'.

Well, seems to me that the problem lies
with bringing "contraband" into GITMO
in a "surreptitious" manner.

Hey, you want your friends to hjave speedos and swim trunks while in GITMO?
Don't want to run afoul of regulations?
Easy!!! Don't be "surreptitious" about it. Bring in the items in an above board way; tell them at the gate that you have "contraband" but you're telling them about it and therefore it won't be "surreptitious," ergo it isn't really "contraband," but rather declared item(s), making it/them perfectly ok!!

Does not amaze me in the least that there are so many morons out there that cannot see what is so important here. How did they get in there? It is VERY important. Some of those people would like to kill a guard just for the heck of it. SO they can get twenty one virgins and as many pairs of Speedo as they want.