Now that Hussein has indicated that he will shut down GITMO, and I believe he will, the Left is pulling out all the stops in talking about who these people are. It appears that most of them stop just short of being Messengers of Peace.
Now I know that you know that the Left is as full of stinky brown stuff as a turkey before Thanksgiving, but I thought it might be interesting to look at the logic used.
A Seton Hall Professor of Law issued this.From the report.
Fifty-five percent (55%) of the detainees are not determined to have committed any hostile acts against the United States or its coalition allies.
It is possible that they were members who had not yet committed a hostile act. And 45% were. As we look at all of these numbers it is important to remember that in any military type organization, only a small number are actual "fighters." The remainder are support people.
Only 8% of the detainees were characterized as al Qaeda fighters. Of the remaining detainees, 40% have no definitive connection with al Qaeda at all and 18% are have no definitive affiliation with either al Qaeda or the Taliban.
"were characterized" is a qualifier. Did the government report use it, or these writers. The Taliban and al-Qaeda are only two of the groups involved. Plus, 36% are not commented on. Since the bias is for defining the prisoners out of the "trouble" area, the lack of comment tells me they are a threat.
The Government has detained numerous persons based on mere affiliations with a large number of groups that in fact, are not on the Department of Homeland Security terrorist watchlist
So we are to believe that because DHS does not have them on a list, they shouldn't have been arrested. Let's see, the FBI doesn't have John's gang on a list so.....
Only 5% of the detainees were captured by United States forces. 86% of the detainees were arrested by either Pakistan or the Northern Alliance and turned over to United States custody.
So? If Pakistan captures bin Ladin, should we release him? (Yes, that's an overstatement, but no more than the implication of the 5% in the report.) BTW - Sudan did capture him and offer him to Clinton who said, "No." The refusal was based on some very narrow legal grounds. Does that tell you how these people think?
Finally, the population of persons deemed not to be enemy combatants - mostly Uighers - are in fact accused of more serious allegations than a great many persons still deemed to be enemy combatants.
So? I am not sure what that is supposed to prove beyond one group who is not thought to be bad as a group has more allegations than a great many persons who are not defined as a group. "If we had some ham we'd have some ham and eggs if we had some eggs, etc.
Now, what does the military say about releasing prisoners?
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Tuesday that 61 former detainees from its military prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, appear to have returned to terrorism since their release from custody.
Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said 18 former detainees are confirmed as "returning to the fight" and 43 are suspected of having done in a report issued late in December by the Defense Intelligence Agency.Of course the Left doesn't want to believe these people.
Morrell said the latest figures, current through December 24, showed an 11 percent recidivism rate, up from 7 percent in a March 2008 report that counted 37 former detainees as suspected or confirmed active militants.
Rights advocates said the lack of details should call the Pentagon's assertions into question.
"Until enough information is provided to allow the press and the public to verify these claims, they need to be viewed with a healthy degree of skepticism," said Jennifer Daskal, a Washington-based lawyer for Human Rights Watch.
They also won't believe this.
Citing a memo prepared for him by his staff, Hunter proceeded to discuss some of the at least 10 detainees who have been released from Guantanamo Bay, or Gitmo, only to re-join the fight against the U.S. coalition bringing democracy to Afghanistan
Among the names listed in the memo is Mohammed Yusif Yaqeb (search), also known as Mullah Shazada. Yaqeb was released in May 2003. He proceeded to become the head of Taliban (search) operations in southern Afghanistan and was killed one year later in a fight with U.S. forces.
Also named is Maulavi Abdul Ghaffar (search), released in 2002 and returned to Afghanistan. As a regional commander, Ghaffar helped carry out attacks on U.S. troops in Afghanistan until he was killed by Afghan forces in September 2004.
One of the more notable cases involved Mohammed Ismail (search), one of two teens held at Gitmo until he was let go last year. He was recaptured four months later fighting American troops in Afghanistan. The memo notes that at the time of his capture Ismail was carrying a letter "confirming his status as a Taliban member in good standing."
"One of the most publicized cases, Mr. Ismail, was released to great fanfare at Guantanamo," Hunter said. Ismail "did a press conference at which he thanked the United States for educating him, because we teach them to read and write at Guantanamo."
Currently, 545 detainees are housed at Gitmo, most of them members of Al Qaeda, the Taliban and their related terror groups. An additional 146 have been released and 62 have been handed over to other governments, according to the memo.
LinkPortions of the above were also posted on TalkLeft.
