Terrorism Watch: Casio All the Rage at Guantanamo

Casio just won itself a whole lot of publicity it probably wishes it could un-leak. In the most recent release of classified documents by WikiLeaks, Casio's unassuming model F-91W digital watch receives a lot of attention.

The watch is singled out in the classified reports on Guantanamo Bay terrorism detainees, noting that simply wearing one was tantamount to an admission of guilt. The revelation has outraged many, as the watch is a global favorite and one of the best-selling models of all time. But why wasn't anyone outraged over this Casio connection earlier?

The Guardian notes that just wearing a Casio F-91W "has been a contributing factor to the continued detention of some prisoners, with more than 50 detainee reports referring to the watch." The Guardian also links to the entire military briefing dedicated to the Casio.

The reason, the BBC explains, is that these Casios are bestsellers is that they "retail for as little as £7 ($12), are water resistant and have a battery life of approximately seven years." It just so happens that these attributes also make them ideal for use in IEDs, the unmanned bombs which have killed and maenad so many in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Millions have been sold since 1991, with the model gaining some retro classic trendiness in Western countries. Last year, pop culture juggernaut Boing Boing even posted an ode to the watch: "This $11 watch is the simplest and most utilitarian timepiece I have ever worn."

But while Wikileaks may have been the most prominent introduction to Casio's terrorism ties, it's certainly not the first.

A 2006 Mother Jones investigation into Guantanamo detention noted that "More than a dozen detainees were cited for owning cheap digital watches, particularly 'the infamous Casio watch of the type used by Al Qaeda members for bomb detonators.'" The piece went on to quote a number of detainees speaking about the Casio:

Detainee 651, Usama Hassan Ahmend Abu Kabir: I have a Casio watch due to the fact that they are inexpensive and they last a long time. I like my watch because it is durable. It had a calculator and was waterproof, and before prayers we have to wash up all the way to my elbows.

Detainee 298, Salih Uyar: If it is a crime to carry this watch, your own military personnel also carry this watch. Does this mean they’re just terrorists as well?

Detainee 228, Abdullah Kamel Abudallah Kamel: When they told me that Casios were used by Al Qaeda and the watch was for explosives, I was shocked.... If I had known that, I would have thrown it away. I’m not stupid. We have four chaplains [at Guantanamo]; all of them wear this watch.

Detainee 154, Mazin Salih Musaid Al Awfi: Millions and millions of people have these types of Casio watches. If that is a crime, why doesn’t the United States arrest and sentence all the shops and people who own them? This is not a logical or reasonable piece of evidence.

The video at top? Posted on YouTube in 2007.

The notion that one of the world's bestselling watch brands was used to finger possible terrorist suspects? We'd be ticked off, but it's a digital watch.