Pakistan Hood’winked

It was back in April when Moin Ansari of the Rupee News Blog trumped us with the news that the Commandant of Guantanamo Bay Prison, Maj Gen Jay W. Hood had been sent to Pakistan. It does not take a genius to figure out that Guantanamo Bay was a major goof-up by the American forces, there were reports of desecration of the Holy Quran, Human Rights Violation and reports of blatant prisoner abuse. Apparently General Hood is lauded for his efforts at Gitmo, I wonder if this is the level of treatment that deserved a standing ovation in Washington I fear for the worst when he comes to Pakistan and tries to excersise his control over us.

An article written by Ishtiaq Baig on April 16th 2008 expressed similar sentiments

It is sad for Pakistan that America has nominated such a controversial person as its defence representative, one whose uniform is stained with the blood of Muslims. Under international law, Pakistan has the right to refuse the appointment of such a controversial person. Now that the new democratic government has come into office, perhaps Islamabad should request Washington to review its decision and in fact should tell it that it will not accept General Hood. We may not have been able to stop General Hood from desecrating the Holy Quran but we can at least stop him from coming to our country.

While Moin Ansari also reacted with some truly heart felt emotional words

It is disgusting to hear that General Jay Hood, the monster of Gitmo would be in the US Embassy in Islamabad. Was he the proposed person to take charge of the Nuclear Command of Pakistan? Will he monitor the renditions and transfer of prisoners. Whose idea was it ot put a lightning rod in the diplomatic enclave with “ah bail mujhe maar” (Bull come and hit me). Was it necessary to put General Hood in a sensitive areas. Does Hood no tknow how much people hate what went on in Gitmo? This was the worst blunder the new government made. It has since been rectified and the General’s appointment in Paksitan has been rejected

Finally common sense may have prevailed within the American govt to remove this controversial general from Pakistan. Although the decision to withdraw the assignment has not been formally announced, New York Times sid in an article titled Pentagon Drops Post in Pakistan for Top General that it appeared to be the result of Hood’s previous tenure at the Guantanamo Bay military prison. where the Army was criticized for his decision to force feed the detainees.

It was also during Hood’s service at Guantanamo Bay that the Pentagon released details of five confirmed cases of US personnel abusing the Holy Quran. In a story published in the Washington Post, the US military admitted that soldiers and interrogators had kicked the Quran, got copies wet and stood on the holy book during an interrogation and also sprayed urine on another copy. At the time, Major Hood as Commander of Joint Task Force Guantanamo completed an inquiry into these cases of abuse. In his report, Hood chose to describe these incidents as “largely inadvertent.”

WASHINGTON — When the Pentagon announced in March that Maj. Gen. Jay W. Hood would become the senior American officer based in Pakistan, it reflected the military’s aim to put a crisis-tested veteran in a critical job at a pivotal time in the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan’s tribal areas. But nearly two months later, the military has quietly canceled the assignment of General Hood, a 33-year Army veteran who was excoriated in the Pakistani news media for one of his previous jobs: commander of the United States prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba