I Don’t Know

The curious wording on the removable identification tags of guards at Guantánamo Bay.

The Florida Sun Sentinel reported that when military personnel at Gitmo have contact with detainees, they peel off their Velcro I.D. tags and replace them with tags that read “I don’t know.” The aim, according to the U.S. military, is to protect the identity of the guards and to prevent revenge attacks against them and their families.

Clive Stafford-Smith, the celebrated lawyer who represents a number of Guantánamo Bay inmates, told Schott’s Vocab:

Soldiers in Guantánamo have never worn name tags – we complained about this, as it meant we couldn’t report them for misconduct and they started wearing Velcro strip numbers. This seems to be a further development – perhaps we are supposed to complain and then, when asked about whom, say “I don’t know.” It reflects the “Alice in Wonderland” absurdity that is Guantánamo Bay.