The Other Latif: Episode 6

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: This episode traces the failed 2016 effort to transfer Guantanamo detainee Abdul Latif Nasser to Morocco, showing how a near-complete diplomatic and legal process collapsed over a missed deadline, bureaucratic risk aversion, and the government’s inability to confront Guantanamo’s “original sin.” It also connects that failure to broader questions about American values, citizenship, detention, and state power.

Main Topics: Radiolab’s investigative reporting and listener-funded journalism (Priority: 5/5): Sara Kari explains the exhaustive, multi-year reporting behind The Other Latif, emphasizing documents, FOIA requests, interviews, and international travel, and asking listeners to support the work financially. Latif Nasser’s citizenship and moral conflict (Priority: 5/5): Latif reflects on becoming a U.S. citizen while reporting on indefinite detention and torture, and how the case challenged his belief in the American experiment and made him feel implicated. The long, fragile transfer process for Abdul Latif Nasser (Priority: 5/5): The episode details how the Obama administration tried to transfer Nasser to Morocco through interagency negotiations, security conditions, and congressional notice requirements before the process broke down. Guantanamo as an ‘original sin’ and legal exception (Priority: 5/5): Former officials argue that Guantanamo was built outside both war and criminal law, making later efforts to resolve detainee cases difficult because the system itself lacked a stable legal framework. Bureaucracy, deadlines, and the role of the Secretary of Defense (Priority: 4/5): The transfer nearly succeeded, but a statutory 30-day review period and Secretary Ash Carter’s refusal to sign off blocked it, revealing how one official’s risk calculus could derail the release. Competing government factions over liberty vs. institutional self-protection (Priority: 5/5): Inside the Situation Room, one side argued not to oppose a habeas motion that would let Nasser go home, while another insisted the government must defend its authority to detain him and avoid admitting Guantanamo was wrong. Nasser’s own humanity and the human cost of detention (Priority: 4/5): The closing letter from Nasser describes his family, education, love of biology, and longing to return home, underscoring that the story is about a person, not just a case file.

Key Arguments: Radiolab’s reporting is resource-intensive and public support is essential because investigative journalism of this depth is expensive and time-consuming. Latif’s citizenship journey became morally complicated because he felt he was joining a nation that continued to imprison Nasser without trial. Nasser was likely a low- to mid-level fighter in Afghanistan, not a terrorist mastermind or 9/11 participant, based on the limited evidence available. Even if Nasser had fought in Afghanistan, indefinite detention without trial and torture are presented as fundamentally un-American and unjust. The Obama administration genuinely tried to close Guantanamo and transfer Nasser, but bureaucracy, congressional constraints, and internal government risk aversion obstructed success. Guantanamo’s legal architecture—created outside normal law—made it extraordinarily hard for officials to fix individual cases without implicitly admitting the system was flawed. The final failure was not merely bureaucratic delay; it also reflected a deeper refusal within parts of government to cede that the original detention decision had been wrong. Nasser’s letter reframes him as a son, student, and would-be teacher, challenging the listener to see him as a human being with a future beyond Guantanamo.

Data Points: Reporting duration: 3 years - Sara Kari describes how long the team worked on the series about Abdul Latif Nasser. Pages reviewed: thousands of pages - The team says it poured through thousands of declassified and leaked documents. FOIA requests: countless - The producers repeatedly filed Freedom of Information Act requests to obtain government records. Recorded interviews: more than 70 - The reporting included over 70 taped interviews. Interview time: around 200 hours - The team estimates the interviews amounted to roughly 200 hours of conversation. Countries/travel locations: Morocco, Guantanamo Bay, the Pentagon, military bases - The investigation took the team across multiple countries and U.S. government sites. Detention length: 14 years - Nasser had been detained at Guantanamo for 14 years when the court fight intensified. Deadline window: 43 days - After the election/inauguration timeline, the transfer team had only 43 days to finish the process. Congress review period: 30 days - Congress required 30 days’ notice before a Guantanamo transfer could be executed. Late paperwork delay: 1 week and 1 day late - Court documents indicated the final Moroccan all-clear arrived after the statutory deadline. Alternative account of lateness: 1 day late - Several directly involved officials said the final approval was only one day late. Obama transfer effort timeframe: 7 years - A participant said he had been working for seven years to close Guantanamo by the time of the transfer fight. Date of citizenship oath: April 24, 2019 - Latif recounts becoming a U.S. citizen on this date. Supporter donation ask: $10/month - Radiolab offers a tote bag to listeners who make a monthly contribution at this amount.

Pivotal Quotes: "I think he was a low to mid level fighter who, as far as I can tell, never targeted civilians, never killed any Americans." — Latif Nasser: Latif states his best evidence-based assessment of Abdul Latif Nasser’s role in Afghanistan. "The original sin. by which I mean that Guantanamo was neither grounded in the laws of war nor in criminal justice." — Ambassador Daniel Freed: Freed explains why later attempts to transfer detainees were so difficult and politically fraught. "We have an opportunity to do what we can to transfer him. We should seize that opportunity if that's what our policy is." — Steve Pomper: A White House-side argument inside the Situation Room for not opposing the habeas motion and letting Nasser go home.

Implications: The episode shows how Guantanamo’s legacy still shapes U.S. law, diplomacy, and politics. It warns that once governments create legal exceptions, restoring rights becomes harder than denying them in the first place.