Obama will close GITMO

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.

Link

Portions of the above were also posted on TalkLeft.

The British have a way with words

The Daily Mail ( UK National Paper) wrote this editorial about Obama on 1/6/2009. (for confirmation, Google "London Daily Mail Obama's Victory") Obama's Victory --

A British view

An editorial from the London Daily Mail

A victory for the hysterical Oprah Winfrey, the mad racist preacher Jeremiah Wright, the mainstream media who abandoned any sense of objectivity long ago, Europeans who despise America largely because they depend on her, comics who claim to be dangerous and fearless but would not dare attack genuinely powerful special interest groups.

A victory for Obama-worshippers everywhere. A victory for the cult of the cult. A man who has done little with his life but has written about his achievements as if he had found the cure for cancer in between winning a marathon and building a nuclear reactor with his teeth. Victory for style over substance, hyperbole over history, rabble-raising over reality. A victory for Hollywood , the most dysfunctional community in the world. Victory for Streisand, Spielberg, Soros and Sarandon. Victory for those who prefer welfare to will and interference to independence. For those who settle for group think and herd mentality rather than those who fight for individual initiative and the right to be out of step with meager political fashion. Victory for a man who is no friend of freedom. He and his people have already stated that media has to be controlled so as to be balanced, without realizing the extraordinary irony within that statement. Like most liberal zealots, the Obama worshippers constantly speak of Fox and Limbaugh, when the vast bulk of television stations and newspapers are drastically liberal and anti-conservative.

Senior Democrat Chuck Schumer said that just as pornography should be censored, so should talk radio. In other words, one of the few free and open means of popular expression may well be cornered and beaten by bullies who even in triumph cannot tolerate any criticism and opposition. A victory for those who believe the state is better qualified to raise children than the family, for those who prefer teachers' unions to teaching and for those who are naively convinced that if the West is sufficiently weak towards its enemies, war and terror will dissolve as quickly as the tears on the face of a leftist celebrity. A victory for social democracy even after most of Europe has come to the painful conclusion that social democracy leads to mediocrity, failure, unemployment, inflation, higher taxes and economic stagnation. A victory for intrusive lawyers, banal sentimentalists, social extremists and urban snobs.

Congratulations America !

Hat tip to Jimmy M

Yes. Children of all ages have got what they wanted.

It is to be seen if we want they have have got.

Where do we get such people as Susan Crawford?

That question used to be reserved for heroes. I now use it for Susan Crawford, a person so confused over the issues that she has decided not prosecute a terrorist because:

"We tortured [Mohammed al-]Qahtani," said Susan J. Crawford, in her first interview since being named convening authority of military commissions by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates in February 2007. "His treatment met the legal definition of torture. And that's why I did not refer the case" for prosecution.

Listen to these terrible things that were done to him.

....interrogating him with techniques that included sustained isolation, sleep deprivation, nudity and prolonged exposure to cold, leaving him in a "life-threatening condition."

I would love to have a chat with her. The first thing I would say is:

"Susan. Torture is having to decide whether you want to burn to death in an office building or jump to your death."

Where do we get these people? I pray that we find out and send them back. The country cannot afford them.

Link

I am sure the Obama adminsitration will find a place for her.

Will Smith does propaganda for Obama

Hollywood film star Will Smith has staked his claim to play Barack Obama in a movie about his rise to become US President and America’s first black leader."

Don't you think it would be better to wait and see what he does before a movie is made? Making a movie now strikes me as pure propaganda.

And it is in the same vein as this. Link

Obama is not going to take over the country.

The country is going to give itself to Obama.

And isn't that always a dictator's path to power?

Israel attacks UN enclave

I wonder why??

Link

Weapons found in Mosque.
Hat tip to Larry P.

Waxman wants to pass GW law....

Stuff you couldn't make up, yet it's true.

WASHINGTON – The chairman of a key House committee says he wants to pass a climate change bill before Memorial Day.

California Rep. Henry Waxman said Thursday the environment and U.S. economy depend on congressional action to confront the threat of climate change. Waxman, chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, spoke as he opened Congress' first hearing on climate legislation.

Link

That ranks right up there with Barney Frank telling us last July that Fannie and Freddie were okay on going...

These people have no shame....

Wicked: Coldest Temps In Over A Decade
First Day With A Low Colder Than -10 In Chicago Since 1999

Link

But if you want to find dumb in copious quantities.... visit the districts that elected this pair of know nothings... Now that is dumb.

In the meantime we have the following.

Here’s what you need to know: if an increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) is directly related, i.e. causes changes in the Earth’s temperature, there would be a direct correlation between the two. As CO2 rose, we would see a comparable rise in the Earth’s temperature. This correlation does not exist.

Global warming liars, however, insist that CO2 builds up on the atmosphere over a 50 to 250 year period, but this is untrue. “Every year around April, increased CO2 absorption by plants in the Northern Hemisphere starts reducing the CO2 in the atmosphere,” notes Ashworth, “and the reduction continues until around mid-to-late August when plants start to go dormant.”

If you want to see the chart that shows CO2 lagging temperature increases, go this source and then click on the "paper on CO2 written by" Robert Ashworth link.

And it shows a simple truth. If CO2 causes global warming, the build up would occur before the warming. It doesn't.

Game. Set. Match. And would the stupid people please leave the stands? The clean up crew needs to clean up the mess you have made before it kills us all.

Torture, Waterboarding and Intelligence

The Left is now going into a tizzy with the expectation that Obama will immediately close GITMO, and even a bigger tizzy over what is to be done the prisoners held there. A secondary issue is that Newsweek, of all places, has now started hedging around over torture, or at least the accuracy of the results of what they call torture.

An example of this is posted in Talk Left. The following is an expansion of a comment I published there this morning. The Newsweek article is here.

Definitions - Waterboarding, sleep deprivation, loud noise, temperature extremes and insulting cultural mores are not torture.

Waterboarding is rigorous interrogation that should not be routinely used, but reserved for situations where the expected results are important, and should be supervised at the highest levels.

I provide that so someone can't later claim I am for actual torture. Having defined that, I will say again that information obtained, either true or false is helpful, and that all information can be vetted for accuracy. And even then the results may not be 100% accurate.

Let me provide an example.
“Son, where did you and Bob go last night?”
“Oh, we went to the movie.”
“Was it good? What’d you see?”
“Marley.”

Now you, knowing that Marley is no longer being shown at any movie theaters know that you have been lied to. It also lends credence to the information that someone has given you that they saw Bob and your son cruising in an area that is known to be used for street dope sales.

Intelligence information does not always consist of, a la Jack Bauer, "The bomb is in a trash can at 24th and Main!" It requires careful putting together of a mosaic of information to reach a conclusion.

But we all make decisions based on partial information on many things. Most of them are not important, some are more so.

The Doctor says, “We need to do exploratory surgery. Now, we have had good results, but there is some hazard…” Should you decline or decide to accept the risk to allow an early diagnosis and treatment?

And if you want to really see an example, just read the warnings and side effects of various drugs.

The Plame affair, to return more closely to the issues of intelligence, is instructive. Wilson was sent to Niger to determine if the reports that Iraq had purchased uranium was true. He reported to the CIA that Iraq had not, but that the ex-PM of Niger had said that they had sought to do so. The CIA found that this information was useful because it confirmed other information.

Wilson later claimed that the purchasing documents were false, although he admitted that he may have misspoke to the Washington Post because he could not known that since he had not seen the document. And they were false, but of course that wasn’t the point, said point being lost in all the brouhaha over Mrs. Wilson’s name.

The “attempt” to was correct and confirmed that Saddam was determined to produce nuclear weapons. We now know that he had not yet done so, but we also know that he had plans in place and was working towards doing that as soon as sanctions were removed.

Senate Intelligence Committee report.

As UN Chief Inspector David Kay said, “….now believes that any weapons the Iraqis had were probably destroyed before 1998. "There were continuing clandestine activities but increasingly driven more by corruption than driven by purposeful directed weapons programmes," argued the 63-year-old former diplomat and sleuth.”

Guardian article.

How does the thought of a corrupt regime selling nuclear and biological weapons to al-Qaida sound?

But even prior to that comes the question, how should the prisoner be designated?
It is obvious to anyone, I believe; if the prisoner is a prisoner of war, then the GC rules apply. And if they fall into certain other categories the GC rules apply.
But these prisoners meet no category of the GC. They are not POW's. They are illegal combatants, terrorists, guerrillas. There is no nation state to return them to after hostilities cease. There is no army that they wear a uniform for. When you set them free they are apt to attack again.

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…….

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."

Link to source.

It would be interesting to see what would have happened had the Bush administration designated these people POWs. Under GC rules they would be retained until hostilities ended, which in this undeclared war could be years and years.

If that had happened, would we now be seeing the Left claim they are not POWs and demand they have Combatant Status Review Tribunals to see if they should be released? (That is how the process works.)

Link to source.

I mention the above because until you decide that, you can go no further, unless you are of the opinion everyone is to be treated as a POW, except differently.

The "difference" is a requirement for a full up US type criminal justice trial with all the rules of evidence, etc.

The above, I believe, is a accurate statement of the beliefs of the Left.

The result of those beliefs, I believe, has now dawned on some of the media, as well as Obama and some of his staff. Said result is that guilty terrorists may well be set free to kill again. And that information obtained through rigorous interrogation is useful and is needed in what is a guerilla war.

So with Bush gone you are apt to see a good bit of twisting and turning as the realities of the world sinks in, and that the responsibility now rests with Obama. He will reap the success and he will reap the failures. So have all Presidents.