"Ghost" Detainees?

ABC News is reporting that the CIA has been hiding up to 100 Guantanamo detainees from the Red Cross and other humanitarian agencies. These prisoners were apparently held outside the normal registration process, and the CIA has refused to remedy the situation until high-ranking generals started complaining to Congress about it. Now there are sure to be hearings on the issue.



Why is this serious? One, it means that the Red Cross was unable to check out the conditions for the prisoners to ensure no Abu Ghraib-style torture was going on. Two, it means that the CIA has apparently violated an international treaty that every other branch of our armed forces and intelligence services comply with.



I am sure there is a "good reason" for this. Probably they are prisoners that we don't want Al-Qaeda to know that we have, so the terrorists keep trying to communicate with them. (I can see it now. An anonymous IM to TERRORIST_NUTCASE from OSAMA_FREAK: "Hey, haven't seen you in a while! Come on over and we'll put on some tunes, drink some beers, and plan the next attack on America!" Response from TERRORIST_NUTCASE (now a CIA plant) "My apologies, but I am detained at the moment by unavoidable circumstance. Why don't you just tell me about your plans. Best if you can do so with full documentation that will stand up before Congressional review. I am NOT a CIA plant. Really.")