1 in 7 Released Gitmo ‘Detainees’ Have Returned To Jihad

It’s kind of like Russian Roulette, only there are seven cylinders in this pistol instead of six.

Let a Gitmo detainee go – in the US or anywhere else – and there is a 1 chance in 7 that he will try to kill more Americans.

Here’s how the New York Times article on the story begins:

Freed from Gitmo, 1 in 7 reportedly fight again

Secret findings revealed as furor continues over plans to close the camp
By Elisabeth Bumiller
New York Times
Updated: 05/20/2009

A Guantanamo guard watches over detainees, not pictured, in the exercise area at Camp 5 maximum-security facility on Oct. 9, 2007, at Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, Cuba. (Associated Press file: Brennan Linsley)

WASHINGTON — An unreleased Pentagon report provides new details concluding that about one in seven of the 534 prisoners already transferred abroad from the detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has returned to terrorism or militant activity, according to administration officials.

The conclusion could strengthen the arguments of critics who have warned against releasing any more prisoners as part of President Barack Obama’s plan to close the prison by January. Past Pentagon reports on Guantanamo recidivism have been met with skepticism from civil liberties groups and criticized for their lack of detail.

The Pentagon promised in January that the latest report would be released soon, but spokesman Bryan Whitman said this week that the findings were still “under review.”

Two administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said the report was being held up by Defense Department employees fearful of upsetting the White House, at a time when even congressional Democrats have begun to show misgivings over Obama’s plan to close Guantanamo.

The White House has said that Obama will provide further details about those plans in a speech this morning at the National Archives.

I JUST LOVE how the 2nd paragraph begins: The conclusion could strengthen the arguments of critics who have warned against releasing any more prisoners as part of President Barack Obama’s plan to close the prison by January.”

Let me play with how that sounds: “The conclusion could strengthen the arguments of critics who have warned against sailing a giant cruise ship filled with passengers at top speed through massive ice-floes in the North Atlantic.”

Or how about this one: “The conclusion could strengthen the arguments of critics who have warned against allowing children to play with matches in factories filled with fireworks as part of a safety plan to avoid blowing the town to kingdom come.”

And you can have fun with your own ridiculous versions of the New York Times‘ “The conclusion could strengthen the arguments of critics” idiocy at home, kids.

I don’t know about you, but I would rather avoid playing Russian Roulette with terrorists released in American cities.

And then we have another issue: the continuing politicization of official information.  First we have Barack Obama stupidly releasing CIA memos – for no other reason than to use as a partisan political attack against Republicans – that explained to our enemies our strategies and tactics in interrogation techniques.  And now we have Defense Department officials NOT releasing reports out of fear of the administration.

There is a system of frightening political patronage going on.  If there is ANYTHING we shouldn’t be playing politics over, it is our national security.  And that seems to be the Obama Administration’s and the Democratic Party’s subject of first choice to demagogue.

Tags: 1 in 7, 534 prisoners, CIA memos, close Gitmo, Gitmo, Guantanamo Bay, Obama, Pentagon, political attack