Grim maze of razor wire, and some humane efforts

General Lehnert and other camp officials say the detainees are receiving better treatment than any American would likely receive if taken prisoner by Taliban or Al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan. Some cite the case of the US Navy SEAL who was reportedly shot at point-blank range shortly after falling out of a helicopter during a military assault last week in Afghanistan.

Others cite the videotaped murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

But what if Al Qaeda fighters put Americans in a mirror image of Camp X-Ray? Would American officials and service members denounce the treatment as inhumane and a violation of the Geneva accords?

"If I did get captured, I guess I'd be pretty happy to be treated like these guys here," says US Air Force Staff Sgt. Jeff Duncan. He adds that at least he'd be alive and receiving three meals a day.

Sergeant Duncan has flown supply missions into Afghanistan and says he's thought about what might happen if his plane went down in enemy territory. "They probably aren't taking any prisoners," he says. "From what they've already done, I figure you'd be fighting for your life."

Camp X-Ray first opened in the mid-1990s as a place to confine particularly troublesome Cuban migrants who had been intercepted at sea prior to reaching the US. The detention facility was named X-Ray in part because the open-air, chain-link cells provided guards with the ability to see through the walls and closely monitor activities at all times.

The long-dormant camp was dusted off and expanded to 320 cells after Defense officials decided to send suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters to Guantanamo while awaiting a final determination of their status.

At the same time, the detainees have been subject to repeated interrogations aimed at gathering intelligence information about possible future terrorist attacks and Al Qaeda operations.

From the day the camp opened, it has been subject to charges of abuse. Most of the charges arose after publication of a US Defense Department photograph of the first batch of detainees arriving Jan. 11. It shows several of the men blindfolded and kneeling with their hands bound behind their backs. The photo sparked international outrage as well as accusations of sensory deprivation and torture.

None of it is true, camp officials say. Guards were simply using an abundance of caution while transferring a group of men considered to be extremely dangerous. The blindfolds and other restraints were off in a matter of minutes, they say.

But the suggestion of mistreatment has lingered with some critics. To counter such impressions, military public-affairs officers have anxiously touted to members of the media the medical treatment being offered to detainees. Military surgeons performed 42 separate procedures on 18 different prisoners since the end of January, mostly for untreated battlefield injuries.

Fifteen of the prisoners are still in two special mobile hospital wards set up to deal with the detainees. They are manacled to their beds and are under 24-hour guard by marines.

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