Guantanamo Former Detainee, Guards Talk To HuffPost Live

Guantanamo Former Detainee, Guards Talk To HuffPost Live

Last week the Miami Herald reported the 168 remaining inmates at Guantanamo Bay had stopped checking out Harry Potter books from the prison library and instead were clamoring for episodes of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Later in the week, news hit that one of the dozen Gitmo detainees the Pentagon classifies as "high-value detainees" had acquired a pet cat. Which begs the question:

Why are these the only stories that land Gitmo in the news? After all, as someone who voted for Obama in 2008 -- isn't this his biggest broken promise, even if not entirely his fault?

HuffPost Live hosted a conversation Wednesday to try to answer why these light stories on one of America's most controversial topics are the only stories to arouse the interest of the American public. Joining me live were Moazzam Begg, a British citizen held in Guantanamo for nearly three years; Ramzi Kassem, a lawyer who represents Guantanamo detainees; Lyletta Robinson, an Obama voter in 2008; Brandon Neely, a former Gitmo guard who believes the prison should be closed; Montgomery Granger, a former Army Medical Officer who thinks the prison should remain open; HuffPost managing editor Jimmy Soni, and HuffPost World editor Clare Richardson.

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