well it's been 12 years since I last saw
you mhm and the last time that happened
I was in Camp Echo as a prisoner MH of
the United States of America and you
were my
Guardsman used
to be you know your duty was to guard me
24 hours a day sometimes
tonight you're going to be staying in my
house and I got the
keys but yeah what does it feel like
like to have been through that process I
know what it feels like for me but for
you to come after all those years to
finally meet with
me as an equal as a friend and as
somebody who sees me as a free man first
of all in my eyes you were always my
friend even when I first met you and
it's because of the way you carried
yourself you were respectful you asked
questions and I answered
them and I answered them the only way I
know normal just be myself and I did
then after a while I start to get to
know you a little bit and hear your
story and I checked out most of it you
know through what you said and uh I
believed you you you had an
honest Charisma about you that
wasn't only let me hear what you wanted
me to hear you were telling the truth
about mostly everything at that point
when I met you in Camp Echo
and when I left
cameko I didn't want to leave because I
knew you were staying there and that
bothered me I wanted to make sure you
and a few others were out of there
before I left I even came home and tried
to rejoin so I can go back to Cuba and
to see that in your film there some of
your discussions where you were bringing
some of the pictures back in my head to
about Cuba showed Camp 4 Camp Delta you
showed Camp uh uh the newer Camp I don't
even know the name of that
one but it brought me back
to where I left you and it kind of made
me feel sad at that moment happy that
you're out happy that you're doing well
happy that you're still you're here and
you allowed me to stay in your house I I
didn't find you a threat then and I
don't find you a threat now so if we
were staying at your house or we went
over to one of your friends house I
still would have stayed over and when um
I was asked if I wanted to stay in the
hotel and the train what train I wanted
to thing I clearly said right away I'd
rather stay at your house and you are
most welcome my friend you are most
welcome and I know that um this this
this evening has been just amazing for
me because we in the city where I was
born and raised and in a park where I've
been coming as a child and in a cinema
theater where you saw a film seated next
to my daughter my son my brothers all
been here and you finally got to see the
real me surrounded
by my people my relatives my
let me just clarify one thing for you
the real you regardless if it was here
Geto I saw the real you then agree
that's why I'm here now yeah and this is
just an extra bonus for me because this
is 12 years in the making like I said I
was worried about you when I
left because at one
point when you came back from a session
uh interrogation or whatever it was even
though you were still and Echo and that
should have been the last of anything
going on for you you came back and told
me they told you you should commit
suicide and that's what killed me after
knowing you and and and and be friending
you and a lot of other MPS did the same
thing we know you just CU you're in
prison doesn't mean we don't know you
most of your characteristics are going
to be there regardless you live there so
mostly your characters and your heart
it's going to show and it showed in that
film and since with your your family
your brother on one side and your
daughter on the other side which I asked
your brother to text you because she was
crying and she had a water bottle and
you she didn't have a water bottle or
tissue and I said listen I don't have a
phone can you get more while you were
standing in the back to get water and
some tissue for your for your daughter I
even gave her my hat to to wipe her
tears with it she refused she just kept
going like this and I felt bad right
then too but that's where my kindness
still runs it runs to people cuz I
didn't even know was your daughter at
first was until your brother told me
that's your that's who you your daughter
is wow it's just amazing and I was just
offering my hat just to wipe her tear
with so it this is this is a
story myself and yours one or two other
guantan soldiers have come over to the
UK before but yeah but I didn't know
them there was Chris there was uh Terry
and there were really really great
amazing people people and they they
brought the story of the soldiers there
that we wanted people to see is that you
know by no means was every Soldier there
an abuser in fact if it wasn't for some
of you guys we would have lost our
sanity but for me this is really special
because it's the first time somebody I
knew personally really well from inside
there a friend from there that's come
over here to visit me as a friend and so
for me that's something
just it's really hard to describe and
the fact that you're going to be able to
stay with me this evening now is not
only a pleasure and honor for me but
what do you think this kind of
thing how do you think the haters the
people who just despise hate on one side
or hate on the other how do you think
what message do you think they're going
to take from
this some people are going to call me a
traitor probably or some people going to
look at you still as a terrorist no
matter what we do we're going to go
through the same crap it's the
individual and how they're
raised is what comes out people I was
like I said I was came from a diverse
family different uh backgrounds my
neighborhood was different so I
naturally came in I didn't see color
didn't see religion I just saw people
dehumanized and that's all that
matters so when I see you and I go to
you it's not cuz your skin color or your
religion yeah your religion was
fascinating to me because no matter what
you were going through you kept to it
and there was a point while you were
there that you you would ask detainees
and a few I mean MPS a few of them what
do you think I should do just give up on
my my own self religion in a cocky way
and I came up straight forward and said
no man that's what makes you who you are
if you can't keep going that way then
why and you said I had the perfect
answer out of other the people that you
question that same question too because
some people did break there where they
did try to change the religion which was
to me stupid you don't have to change
anything just because you're in the
worst of the worst place and you're not
the worst of the worst people as they
said you have
to buckle
down tell yourself it's going to be over
soon and just pray for the best whatever
religion you are it doesn't matter me I
couldn't even last a week what you did
for two three years not
even so that just tells me how much of
uh your inner soul
was stronger than what you were you you
you know people would think you had or
think you would change your mind about
something or sign a document which you
did sign but it was under duress and we
all know
that I would have signed it long ago I
would have been like another David Hicks
I would have just signed away but I I I
unless I had a god like myself there
like you had who gave you encouragement
and try to play games with you or
whatever you show me how to uh play
chess that's a minor thing in the world
to somebody else but to me that meant a
lot that meant this guy is not
only uh prisoner of some bogus War but
he's also a friend that people are
starting to see he's not just what they
per him to be you know cuz they told us
you're the worst of the worst and crazy
stuff you
know our story in in one sense the
stories of the prisoners have been said
often you and I know that you follow
them have heard them and and by by its
very nature because you were there even
though you're on the other side of the
wire you're very connected to what
happens to everybody else sure but I
what we don't really hear about very
much is what happened to you guys a lot
of the soldiers people like you and you
yourself yeah went through a period
where to this day you're affected by
what happened like you went through a
something that it's hard for us to
understand cuz because when you watch
different side like yourself when you
watch
somebody even if he's not your friend or
not again I don't see color I don't see
religion I don't see any of those things
those things are don't exist to me what
I see is humans when I see another human
being tortured even though I was in on
one of
them it killed me it killed me because I
was there just as many hours as he was
there and what I seen in grown
men and what grown men do to other grown
men makes me sick and there was no war
this was just a war of Terror and there
is no Terror if you want to think about
Terror you got to think
about my country or even your country
going to another
country and over oil and what they do we
don't fight an army we fight Everyday
People you take poor people from United
States put them in the military poor
people from UK put them in the military
and they'll go over to another thing and
they fight other poor people we're not
there for the people we're there for
other reasons that are not in our
everyday control mine and yours we're
average people we're peasants and when
when you realized all of this what what
did it do to you like your experience of
what you saw in US it just made
me it made
me think thank God that I I had the
upbringing I did or I wouldn't be as
good as uh a good of an MP for you
military police military police not your
M members of parliament yes military
police cuz there's different types of
military police there's some that I'll
take that oh I got a badge you know
start rattling the cage like you're at a
freaking Park towards an animal or
something and you're not you're you're
human beings just like everybody
else well you know um I hope it's been
you know back in Guantanamo I used to
call you milissi because that was you
know everybody was known by by the last
name don't like calling people by their
Albert Albert is you're you're Albert
and my my name was my number was 558 but
you never used to call me 558 never what
do I call you same thing I call you
today Mo Mo and you're the only one who
does that why am I going to say moam and
then Mr bag that sounds too informal say
hey Mo what's going on today like the
three stoes hey Mo what's going on this
has been you know amazing you're going
back to the state soon but I pray and I
ask you know the C
that we are united again and are able to
meet each other as friends and that
people can learn from our experience and
make this world a better place like I
said Not Only You are welcome in my
house but anyone members of your family
want to go on vacation
Florida I will have in my house hope we
can take you up one day yeah man cool