Lentorama 2022: It Happened on Easter

Day 17: The Guantanamo Files drop

Starting on April 24, 2011, several hundred files regarding prisoners held in the US base at Guantanamo Bay were released by WikiLeaks and published by media outlets including The New York Times and The Guardian (the Times said they received the files independently from WikiLeaks, and they shared them with other media outlets). 

The files detailed the incarceration of over 150 individuals from Afghanistan and Pakistan, ranging in age from 14 to 89, many held for years without charges. Most of those were held specifically for intelligence gathering, rather than being considered a risk for terrorism. Most exhibited signs of mental illness due to their long confinement.

Along with these details was a statement given by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed stating that al-Qaeda would detonate a nuclear device in Europe if Osama bin Laden was captured or killed. Given that bin Laden was killed by US Navy SEALs in 2011, this was either a lie or al-Qaeda is playing a very long game.