Author John Grisham’s recent stirring account that appeared in The New York Times regarding Guantanamo Bay detainee Nabil Hadjarab — an Algerian who has been stuck in the facility for 11 years — suggests the prisoner is completely innocent.
Reading Grisham’s account, one would think that he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. If it were true, this account would be an outrage. However, the reality is, much like Grisham’s books, this account is mostly fiction.
Grisham creates this account by simply ignoring or dismissing all of the facts surrounding this case, and only presenting Hadjarab’s claims. Grisham cites the fact that Hadjarab had never been water-boarded as evidence he has no information. In reality, only three detainees, all extremely high-level, have ever been water-boarded. Grisham also claims Hadjarab is a model prisoner. Not mentioned are the detainee’s 23 reported disciplinary infractions as of January 2007, including three for assault.
The real Nabil Hadjarab is quite different than Grisham’s account.
According to the 2007 transfer order, Hadjarab has countless connections to extremists. He used fake documents to travel to England, where he attended the radical Finsbury Park Mosque, which has long been connected with al-Qaida recruitment. Convicted shoebomber Richard Reid and 20th 9/11 hijacker Zacarias Moussouai were among the most notorious al-Qaida operatives to have attended the mosque.
Hadjarab and his associates traveled to Afghanistan using a route through Islamabad, Pakistan controlled by North African al-Qaida operatives. Once in Afghanistan, Hadjarab stayed as a houseguest of known al-Qaida facilitator, Abu Jaffar al-Jazairi. During his stay, Hadjarab admits he was trained to use an AK-47. He was also present in training camps run by Moroccan and Algerian al-Qaida operatives who provided explosives training. However, no evidence exists that he personally received such training.
After the United States invaded Afghanistan, Hadjarab fought against the U.S. and allied forces in the Tora Bora mountain region along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border — alongside a group of known al-Qaida operatives.
The detainee was part of a group led by al-Qaida commander Abu Thabit who was killed in the battle. While this group was fleeing to Pakistan, U.S. forces attacked and Hadjarab was injured. He was taken to a local hospital where he was detained by Afghan military forces. Hadjarab has himself acknowledged most of this account.
The main reason Grisham is able to justify such a selective telling is the government has authorized Hadjarab to be transferred, despite still deeming him a “medium” threat. The United States has actively tried to reduce the number of detainees through releases and transfers, despite many of the released detainees returning to combat against American forces.
Grisham wants us to apologize to Hadjarab, but in reality it is he and The New York Times that owe an apology to readers for presenting such a one-sided account.
