In an interview on Egypt's Al-Rahma TV, former Guantanamo prisoner Adel Al-Gazzar mocked U.S. soldiers, saying they have the "body of a mule and the dreams of a bird," and that despite his "awesome" body, "the U.S. soldier... is no Rambo."
Al-Gazzar, a former Guantanamo Bay detainee who was resettled in Slovakia by the Obama administration, voluntarily returned to his native Egypt in June 2011 and was immediately arrested, according to his lawyers. In 2002, during his incarceration at Guantanamo, he had been convicted in absentia of plotting to overthrow the Egyptian government and sentenced to three years in prison, in what his advocates have called a sham trial. He had not been repatriated to Egypt by the U.S., although he was cleared for transfer by both the Bush administration and an inter-agency task force set up by the Obama administration, because U.S. officials and his lawyers feared he would be persecuted or tortured upon his return.[1]
The following is the transcript of the interview, which aired on February 16, 2012.
The U.S. Soldier "Has the Body of a Mule" – But "He's No Rambo"
Interviewer: "You said that some American soldiers in Guantanamo would cry and send letters to their mommies and girlfriends…"
Adel Al-Gazzar: "Right."
Interviewer: "The American soldier looks strong, but is he really that strong?"
Adel Al-Gazzar: "Like the poet said, he has the body of a mule and the dreams of a bird. Some brothers even wrote a poem that goes: 'This American, the real idiot. He resembles a donkey, in body and in stupidity.'
"This is just one part. This poem had many stanzas. He is a real idiot, and he resembles a donkey in his body and stupidity. Indeed, they have awesome bodies. They practice sports, and have muscles out to here, like Rambo. The U.S. soldier thinks he's a Rambo. The cinema has made him believe that. But the truth is that he is no Rambo." [...]
"The U.S. Soldier Cannot Fight At All"; They Gave Us "Cornflakes and Yogurt" For Breakfast – When "We Want Falafel and Broad Beans"
"The U.S. soldier cannot fight at all. During the first Gulf War, the Egyptian and the Syrian armies moved in, and the Americans stayed behind. When it was all over and all the 'dispensable' soldiers killed or wounded, the Americans would come and take pictures. [...]
"They would serve us breakfast that does not suit our nature. They would give you cornflakes and yogurt. People, we want falafel and broad beans… That stuff doesn't cut it for us. It would never fill us." [...]
