Guantánamo opens
2002 · Event
The first twenty detainees, shackled and orange-suited, arrive at the naval base on Cuba chosen precisely because it sits outside ordinary American law. Designed as a rules-free zone for 'the worst of the worst', it holds nearly 800 men over the years, most never charged — and becomes, worldwide, the war on terror's most contested symbol. It has outlasted four presidents' promises about it.
On these timelines: 9/11 and the War on Terror, USA, Master, Latin America
More from 9/11 and the War on Terror
- War on Terror (2001)
- The passengers of Flight 93 (2001)
- 'Either with us, or with the terrorists' (2001)
- The 1993 World Trade Center bombing (1993)
- Powell makes the case at the UN (2003)
Around 2002
- Arab Spring (2010)
- One More Night (Maroon 5) (2012)
- September 11 attacks (2001)
- That's The Way Love Goes (Janet Jackson) (1993)
- Pop music: the 2000s (2000)
- Pop music: the 2010s (2010)
- Crazy in Love (Beyoncé featuring Jay-Z) (2003)
- Boom Boom Pow (The Black Eyed Peas) (2009)
- Burn (Usher) (2004)
- Jump (Kris Kross) (1992)