Women guards quit US army over ruling

AUS military judge’s order barring female guards at Guantanamo Bay from escorting the alleged plotters of the September 11, 2001 attacks was so offensive that the women will quit the army, an official testified on Wednesday.

The issue dominated a pretrial hearing at a military court on the US naval base in Cuba, where the same witness said security at Guantanamo’s secretive Camp Seven prison that houses the five defendants had previously been “compromised.” But he gave no additional details.

The case against the “9/11 Five” is moving glacially slowly thanks to numerous defence motions and allegations of government misconduct, coupled with the logistical hurdles of running a court on the remote US base in Cuba.

‘Destroyed morale’

Speaking via video link, the former commander of Camp Seven — who ran the facility from December 2014 to August 2015 — condemned the January order from military judge Colonel James Pohl barring women from escorting the detainees.

“It really destroyed the morale for a long time,” the unidentified Colorado National Guard major said.

“I have soldiers ... that will be getting out the military because of this, and that’s an embarrassment to our armed forces.”

The defendants last year complained that, as strict Muslims, it was inappropriate for women to handle them.

Pakistan-born Khalid Shaikh Mohammad — who has publicly admitted to being the principal planner of 9/11 — has said it makes him flash back to the torture and sexual humiliation meted out by the Cental Intelligence Agency after he was captured in Pakistan in 2003.