Jay W. Hood

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Jay W. Hood is a United States Army Major General. He is the current commander of First Army, Division East, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland. His previous assignments include Commanding General of Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO), Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Assistant Division Commander (Forward), 24th Infantry Division and Deputy Commanding General (South), First Army, Fort Gillem, Georgia; Commander, Division Artillery and Commander, 3rd Battalion, 319th Field Artillery, 82nd Airborne, Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Commander, Battery D, 4th Battalion (Airborne), 325th Infantry (Battalion Combat Team), U.S. Army Southern European Task Force; and Commander, Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 321st Field Artillery, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

[edit] Command of Joint Task Force Guantanamo

In November 2004, Major General Hood, who was a Brigadier General at the time, was commander of the Joint Task Force Guantanamo, operator of the temporary detention facility at Camp X-Ray. The International Committee of the Red Cross released a confidential report to the United States government saying that the American military had intentionally used psychological and sometimes physical coercion "tantamount to torture" on prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.^[1] In response, Hood said, "I'm satisfied that the detainees here have not been abused, they've not been mistreated, they've not been tortured in any way."

In May 2005, General Hood released a report of investigation headed by him, announcing five cases in which the Koran was mishandled at the prison.^[2]

Hood has come under criticism for his decision to force feed detainees with the use of a restraining chair. Hood defended the decision, saying he would not allow one of the detainees to become a martyr, thereby creating more pressure to close the camp.

"Imagine, if you will, if we simply allowed them, contrary to U.S. law, to kill themselves," Hood said. "What would that mean to the rest of the Islamic world? You have Muslim men dying at Guantanamo Bay."^[3]