User:Geo Swan/Guantanamo/Brook DeWalt

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Brook DeWalt
Nationality (legal)United States
OccupationNaval officer
EmployerUnited States Navy
Known forGuantanamo spokesman

Brook DeWalt is an officer in the United States Navy currently serving as a spokesman at the United States' Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.[1]

Career[edit]

In March 2009 Ahmed Zaid Salim Zuhair claimed he was being abused while he was being force-fed, and tried to negotiate an end to the harsh conditions he was protesting.[2] On March 18 2009 Dewalt responded to Zuhair by telling the press that there were currently 34 captives being force-fed.

On March 31 2009 DeWalt responded to press curiousity over controversial comments Miss Universe and Miss USA made following their tour of Guantanamo.[3]

In January 2009 Dewalt was described as "DoD's director of new media".[4]

In a December 11, 2009, interview Dewalt acknowledged, for the first time, that Guantanamo interrogators were continuing to make occasional use of interrogation techniques from Appendix M of the Field Guide to Interrogation.[5] According to psychologist and human rights expert Jeffrey Kaye Appendix M described the replacement for what had previously been known as "[[enhanced interrogation techniques".

In 2012 DeWalt was serving on the staff of General John R. Allen, in charge of operations in Afghanistan, when an attack on FOB Salerno stirred speculation that US forces would openly launch attacks within Pakistan.[6] It was DeWalt's responsibility to officially deny that Allen was going to escalate to open attacks.

On April 5, 2017, Strategic Command tweet of a link to an article on the controversial Breitbart website stirred controversy.[7] Gizmodo magazine requested emails associated with the tweet, and published excerpts of DeWalt's communication with General John Hyten. Gizmodo's voiced the conclusion that the staff at Strategic Command, including DeWalt, did not understand how to use twitter, because every reference in the documents referred to their tweet as a retweet.

References[edit]

  1. ^ David McFadden (2009-06-03). "Military: Detainee who died not on hunger strike". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2009-06-04. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Brook DeWalt said the prisoner, who the military said was found unresponsive and not breathing in his cell Monday night, had resumed eating on his own "in mid-May." He said he did not know if the longtime Guantanamo detainee had ever attempted suicide in the past.
  2. ^ "U.S.: No deal to end long Gitmo hunger strike -- Saudi prisoner has refused to eat since 2005 and is force-fed nutrients". MSNBC. 2009-03-18. Retrieved 2009-06-04. There are currently 34 prisoners on hunger strike at Guantanamo, said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Brook DeWalt, spokesman for the detention center.
  3. ^ "Beauty queens tour Gitmo". Adelaide Now. 2009-03-31. Archived from the original on 2009-05-25. Detention centre spokesman Navy Lieutenant Commander Brook DeWalt said on Monday he didn't know if any prisoners were "out and about when the two women were inside the prison camp.
  4. ^ Jennifer Cragg (2009-01-15). "Defense Department Launches Science-related Online Radio Show". Infozine. Archived from the original on 2009-06-04. 'The Armed with Science audio webcast is intended to promote science literacy throughout the Department of Defense,' Navy Lt. Cmdr. Brook DeWalt, DoD's director of new media, said. 'This is a great use of social media to expand the realm of knowledge in scientific areas of concentration.'
  5. ^ Jeffrey Kaye (2010-01-08). "Under Auspices of the Army Field Manual, Ongoing Torture Interrogations Continue at Guantanamo". The Public Record. Archived from the original on 2010-11-14. In an telephone interview on Dec. 11, Lt. Commander DeWalt explained that while 'not routine', Appendix M interrogations are conducted at Guantanamo 'as authorized', 'in accordance with DOD directives and U.S. law.' {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead= ignored (help)
  6. ^ Kimberly Dozier (2012-06-22). "AP sources: US mulls new covert raids in Pakistan". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved 2018-04-30. Allen's spokesman, Navy Cmdr. Brook DeWalt, said Allen "has not and does not intend to push for a cross-border operation."{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ "The US Military Got Lots of Angry Emails After Tweeting That Breitbart Story". Gizmodo magazine. 2017-04-05. Retrieved 2018-04-30. As lower level staff started to notice the negative attention online, news of the controversy went up the chain of command. In an email dated April 6, 2017 from Captain Brook DeWalt to General John Hyten, it's explained that US Strategic Command "received a fair amount of criticism overnight on Twitter," despite the fact that the account notes "retweets do not imply endorsement."{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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External links[edit]

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