Pauline Storum

Pauline Storum is an officer in the United States Navy, who has specialized in Public Affairs.

In the Spring of 2008 Storum was rotated to be the deputy commander of Joint Task Force Guantanamo's Public Affairs Office.

Ibrahim Al Qosi's call home

Notably, on May 22 2008 Storum told the Press that the Guantanamo camp authorities had already complied with a ruling from earlier that day, from the Presiding Officer of Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi's Military Commission, that provision be made for him to phone home.

Storum's claim triggered controversy. Commander Suzanne Lachelier, Ibrahim Al Qosi's appointed military lawyer, expressed surprise at learning from newspaper reports that the arrangements for the call had been made, and completed, without any participation from her. Normally calls between captives and their family are made with the assistance of the International Committee of the Red Cross, who meet with the captive's family first, to make sure access to a telephone can be arranged, and to pre-schedule the call for a time when the family can be available.

On May 23 2008 Storum sent an apology by e-mail to reporters to retract her claim the phone call had been completed.

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I misspoke when I confirmed that al Qosi's call was complete. In clarifying the current status of the detainee phone program, I misunderstood the information I was given, and inaccurately conveyed that al Qosi's call was completed.

I apologize for the error.

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Carol Rosenberg, of the Miami Herald commented on Storum's initial announcement:

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The original statement Thursday struck some observers as extraordinary -- for both its speed and the coordination between the separate bureaucracies of the prison camp and the war court.

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