Liberal Talk Radio

After the US government reported being unable to track down witnesses that Guantanamo detainee Abdullah Mujahid claimed would prove his innocence of terrorism, England’s lefty newspaper the Guardian took a shot at it. The paper claims that it

searched for Mr Mujahid’s witnesses and found them within three days. One was working for President Hamid Karzai. Another was teaching at a leading American college. The third was living in Kabul. The fourth, it turned out, was dead.

Furthermore,

Each witness said he had never been approached by the Americans to testify in Mr Mujahid’s hearing.

The statements that the Guardian obtained from Mr. Mujahid’s witnesses do not necessarily clarify his innocence, but may help clarify the US government’s competence or the seriousness of its efforts to allow the detainee a fair hearing. The newspaper notes that

The three living witnesses he requested were easily located with a telephone, an internet connection and a few days work.

Shahzada Massoud was at the presidential palace, where he advises Mr Karzai on tribal affairs. Gul Haider, a former defence ministry official, was found through the local government in Gardez.

The interior ministry gave an email address for the former minister, Ahmed Ali Jalali, although he could as easily been found on the internet – he teaches at the National Defence University in Washington DC.

So why couldn’t we find the man’s witnesses? Is it because we didn’t try? Is it because we don’t have anyone who speaks the language? Could it be because the government used [warning: Flash with audio] the Internets for its search? Maybe they should have used the Interweb.