Shalabi has been held at Guantanamo since January 2002 following his capture by Pakistani troops at the Afghanistan border. The U.S. government has said he is suspected of being a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden, but he has not been charged. He denies any affiliation with al-Qaida and his attorneys have asked a judge to order that he be returned to his country.
Shalabi has begun to eat such things as pasta, bread, cake, seafood, baklava, cookies, peanut butter, cheese and ice cream, said Navy Capt. Monte Bible, who commands the Joint Medical Group at Guantanamo, in an affidavit that accompanies a government motion to prevent medical experts hired by the prisoner's attorneys from being dispatched to examine and treat him at the U.S. base in Cuba.
One, I find it hilarious that his doctor is Captain "Bible." Now that's gonna leave a mark!
Second, you have to feel sorry for Shalabi. Five years into his hunger strike, he's about four years beyond when he figured Allah would surely deliver victory over the Great Satan, America. Instead, over those five years, we kicked al Qaeda's ass in Iraq and the global caliphate seems farther away than ever. I'd be into the Dove bars and Cheetos, too. So cut a jihadi some slack.
I did write about Shalabi a few years ago, during year two. And like then, I think we should be culturally sensitive enough to let the poor guy die if that is what he wants. Given how eager they are to be suicide bombers, I count it as progress when they simply commit suicide without taking any of us with them, as I wrote when the hunger strike started.
Really. I'm that sensitive to their wants and desires.
