Taxpayers fund $750,000 soccer field for Gitmo detainees

(AP photo)

U.S. taxpayers are funding millions of dollars of improvements at the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba, including a new $750,000 soccer field for the detainees.

According to NBC News, the upgrades are intended to make the prison for suspected terrorists more of a long-term facility. The cost of running the detention center, commonly known as Gitmo, now stands at $140 million, or $800,000 per detainee.

NBC’s Michael Isikoff toured Gitmo and was shown some of the new amenities: the heavily guarded soccer field known as “Super Rec,” which opened this week; cable television in a  communal living quarters and “enriching your life” classes for detainees, which include instruction on learning to paint, writing a resume  -- even handling personal finances.

Detainees who are deemed to be compliant with the rules and therefore eligible for more privileges are able to watch 21 Cable TV channels, DVD movies, read newspapers and borrow books from a library.

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