S7: Episode 3 - Andy Worthington

January 11 was the 18th anniversary of the opening of Guantanamo Bay military prison. It was opened by President George W. Bush's administration to hold detainees indefinitely in the "war on terrorism."

President Barack Obama pledged to close Guantanamo, but he failed, and when President Donald Trump was elected, there were still 41 prisoners at Guantanamo and Trump could whatever he wanted with the detention facility.

For this week's show, Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola welcome Andy Worthington, who is an investigative journalist, author, campaigner, and activist. He is the co-founder of Close Guantanamo, and his work can be found at his website.

Each anniversary Andy makes a trip from the United Kingdom to the United States to participate in actions and speaking events aimed at shutting down Guantanamo. He's done this for 10 years and recounts his 2020 trip, describing what makes this political moment so bleak for prisoners still confined at Guantanamo.

Andy highlights what has defined Trump's policy around Guantanamo, and he also comments on testimony from CIA torture architect Dr. James Mitchell during a Guantanamo hearing this past week.

Later in the show, Andy expresses his solidarity with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who published the "Gitmo Files," which Andy incorporated into his work telling the stories of the 774 prisoners brought to Guantanamo.