I sneaked around the Info-page for Guantanamo Bay at globalsecurity.org. They got all the statistics. The boys of the US Army also have an official Homepage for the base at Guantanamo Bay", but it looks like a job for the Under-Construction-Club

Anyway. The US got this spot on the south-eastern end of Cuba in 1902 when Cuba managed to become an independent state after three years of American occupation.
The island played a big role in the Spanish-American war which started with the explosion of the war-ship "Maine" in the port of Havanna in 1898 (it was supposed to be sabotage, but it looked more like some explosive gas blew up). The US kept Guantanamo Bay as an Army base until today, even though they lost their right of intervention in 1934. It became the only base in a socialist country after Fidel Castro kicked Batista's ass and made him escape to the US.

Guantanamo Bay is the place where detainees from the war in Afghanistan are held as prisoners in camps that look like something out of a John Carpenter-movie.

"The first detainees arrived at Camp X-Ray January 11, 2002. As of February 1, 2002, detainee in-processing and questioning at Camp X-Ray had been limited to such subjects as basic name, place of birth, time of birth, name of parents, siblings and education, though according to Sen. Inouye more in-depth interrogations was to start soon thereafter. "

Quoted from the info-page for Camp X-Ray at globalsecurity.org

"Soon thereafter", why did they wait that long? Wouldn't you want to question these people right away to find out where Dr. Bin Fu Manchu is hiding?

Camp Delta was first occupied on April 28, 2002, when 300 detainees previously held at Camp X-Ray were transferred to Camp Delta. The rest of the detainees were moved on April 29. Camp X-Ray closed down on that same day. As of June 26, 2002, the total number of detainees at Camp Delta was standing at 536. " Quoted from the info-page for Camp Delta at globalsecurity.org

Maybe it wasn't about questioning since the Bushies were working on something else and the US Patriot Act was only the beginning. The US did everything to secure a new international status for themselves. They made sure that no American can be held guilty at the offical court for International War Criminal. "If they try it, we will attack the Netherlands and get our boys out there", one official said on TV. Yeah, right! Send Rambo! And now they introduced a second judical system to deal with the prisoners on Guantanamo Bay and other evil-doers who are too evil for a regular lawsuit.

"Guantanamo is central to the Bush Administration's strategy to prevent judicial review of the legal status of prisoners. Located on Cuban territory, it is the legal equivalent of outer space, according to one US government official, unlike military bases on US territories. These other locations were ruled out as prison sites because they fall under the jurisdiction of the often-liberal Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals. Quoted from the info-page for Camp Delta at globalsecurity.org

The soldiers call the base "Gitmo". They worry about things only Americans worry about. Here are the top-questions from The FAQ of The unofficial guide to Gitmo  

1. Where do you shop on base?
2. What sports are offered for the adults?
3. What sports are offered for the youth?

Those yankees!!!