Please don’t make me leave … Gitmo?

PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images The U.S. detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, has become a huge thorn in the White House’s side, both at home and abroad. But it looks like Vice President Dick Cheney might have found an unexpected ally in his quest to keep its doors open: Algerian detainee Ahmed Belbacha has been ...

600235_070802_gitmo_05.jpg
600235_070802_gitmo_05.jpg

PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images

PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images

The U.S. detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, has become a huge thorn in the White House’s side, both at home and abroad.

But it looks like Vice President Dick Cheney might have found an unexpected ally in his quest to keep its doors open: Algerian detainee Ahmed Belbacha has been fighting to be allowed to stay at Gitmo. And while a U.S. federal judge rejected his motion to stop his transfer last week, his lawyers are not ready to give up.

So what could possibly be so great in there? Is it the 22 hours each day in an all-steel isolation cell with no windows and no contact with other inmates? Michael Moore might insist that it’s the great healthcare.

But actually, it’s what Belbacha fears is waiting for him upon his return home. Zachary Katznelson, his lawyer, says:

Even though the Americans say he poses no threat, Ahmed fears that he has the stamp of Guantanamo Bay on him and he will be treated by the authorities as a terrorist if he is returned to Algeria. It is a bizarre situation because the reason he left in the first place was because the Islamist terrorists were threatening to kill him.

A U.S. military spokesman reassures us that the United States requires countries receiving detainees from Guantánamo to pledge that they will treat them humanely. Groups like Human Rights Watch have plenty to say about how far these empty “diplomatic assurances” will get you. For men like Ahmed Belbacha, suddenly Gitmo doesn’t look all that bad.

More from Foreign Policy

Keri Russell as Kate Wyler walks by a State Department Seal from a scene in The Diplomat, a new Netflix show about the foreign service.
Keri Russell as Kate Wyler walks by a State Department Seal from a scene in The Diplomat, a new Netflix show about the foreign service.

At Long Last, the Foreign Service Gets the Netflix Treatment

Keri Russell gets Drexel furniture but no Senate confirmation hearing.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron speak in the garden of the governor of Guangdong's residence in Guangzhou, China, on April 7.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron speak in the garden of the governor of Guangdong's residence in Guangzhou, China, on April 7.

How Macron Is Blocking EU Strategy on Russia and China

As a strategic consensus emerges in Europe, France is in the way.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin greets U.S. President George W. Bush prior to a meeting of APEC leaders in 2001.
Chinese President Jiang Zemin greets U.S. President George W. Bush prior to a meeting of APEC leaders in 2001.

What the Bush-Obama China Memos Reveal

Newly declassified documents contain important lessons for U.S. China policy.

A girl stands atop a destroyed Russian tank.
A girl stands atop a destroyed Russian tank.

Russia’s Boom Business Goes Bust

Moscow’s arms exports have fallen to levels not seen since the Soviet Union’s collapse.