Two men released from the US “war on terror” prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba have appeared in a video posted on a jihadist website, the SITE monitoring service reported.
One of the two former inmates, a Saudi man identified as Abu Sufyan al-Azdi al-Shahri, or prisoner number 372, has been elevated to the senior ranks of Al-Qaeda in Yemen, a US counter-terrorism official told AFP.
Three other men appear in the video, including Abu al-Hareth Muhammad al-Oufi, identified as an Al-Qaeda field commander. SITE later said he was prisoner No. 333.
A Pentagon spokesman, Commander Jeffrey Gordon, on Saturday declined to confirm the SITE information.
“We remain concerned about ex-Guantanamo detainees who have re-affiliated with terrorist organizations after their departure,” said Gordon.
[…]
“By Allah, imprisonment only increased our persistence in our principles for which we went out, did jihad for, and were imprisoned for,” al-Shihri was quoted as saying.
[…]
The latest case highlights the risk the new US administration faces as it moves to empty Guantanamo of its remaining 245 prisoners and close the controversial detention camp within a year.
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Olberman had a rant on this last night:
Why were these guys released by BUSH if they were Al quaida types?
Sounds more like there was totally NO EVIDENCE against them so after years with no information, no charges, no witnesses, they were let go. For some reason, these innocent people are seeking revenge after being let go.
IOW==GITMO is creating terrorists, just like our invasion of Iraq.
So yeah, we do have a Catch-22 problem==what do we do with innocent people that we have turned into Terrorists?
Stupid Bush and anyone else who thinks of the Military as anything but a last resort. Something we haven’t done since WW2.
Please, let us know what productive tasks the next 245 ex-cons from your favorite state prison get up to.
If I was held in Guantanamo for years without any evidence, I’d join Al-Qaeda, too.
Hello Bobbo!
I agree that there wasn’t enough evidence to put them up for trial, and that Gitmo may be doing more harm than good, (There may have been other “alternate” ways of dealing with these people, from not arresting in the first place to killing them in the field and thereby not arresting them in the first place.)
But as to your implication that these guys were not baddies but became bad in Gitmo, that’s apparently just not the case.
http://tinyurl.com/azfjag
The overall question does remain, for which no answer has yet been provided, – What is Obama going to do with those Gitmo Guests which should never be released?
Maybe they were let go because they promised to be spies.
They undermined our principles, ruined our world reputation, and they didn’t even catch terrorists!
This remark, “We remain concerned about ex-Guantanamo detainees who have re-affiliated with terrorist organizations . . .” doesnt say whether these two men were ever in Al-Qaeda. After years of illegal imprisonment and torture in Gitmo, I would think even Mother Theresa would want to join.
Should have waited until Al-Qaeda was defeated before releasing. Otherwise, you risk people who maybe weren’t enemies of the US joining after they are let go.
FDR had the right plan. Round up all the Jap women and children in the US, place them in concentration camps and hold them until Japan was totaled. Brilliant.
Maybe Obama will follow one of is heroes advice.
#4–Ah Yea==”Al-Shihri was released by the U.S. in 2007 to the Saudi government for rehabilitation.” /// Does that smell to you of any particular odor?
I don’t see any problem at all. GITMO should be closed asap ((is that a word or an abbreviation? I better do both so I don’t create a paroxysm of confusion among those predisposed in that direction)) — should be closed asap/ASAP because of its symbolic value. Run all the prisoners thru the military tribunal they are entitled to with the goal of keeping most of the prisoners in a few federal pens somewhere.
THEN we can torture the white collar bank fraud CEO’s with threats of putting them in with them if they don’t cooperate. A double win for sure.
If at the end of the day, we are required to release a few of the prisoners, doesn’t that happen everyday in the name of “Justice” and encourageing the pigs not to violate rights?
This “Looking Forward” tell on Obama’s part is not good. It puts the Executive Branch above the law. Its the first step in a short trip to seduction and corruption.
I wonder how many of the Gitmo ((I decided to make it an an acronym)) prisoners would turn to terrorism if they had an expense account that could only be accessed for education and booze in Paris France?
Since other countries won’t take these upstanding Gitmo residents, and Camp Pendleton is just a waste of tax payer dollars, the logical solution is to fly these innocent young men to California for temporary incarceration. After the bankrupt California state-paid Lawyers get them out, they can mingle with the Code Pink supporters. They will feel right at home – probably receive invitations to dinners to discuss future book deals.
Yeah, that’s the ticket.
Obama’s toughest task is gonna be getting the military under control. The last commander in chief rubberstamped every plan the generals came up with.
#11–amaramadingdong==this is serious as the truth is just the opposite. Rumsfeld made the military go into Iraq light and stay there without sufficient armor and support. Anyone who disagreed retired early. I assume you are just stupid, or forgot, rather than being in the Bush vanguard quickly rewriting history before the meat puppet gets hung by the truth.
Bush used the military as a scapegoat for his corporate masters failure to implement which only brought them more profit which was a major and continuing effect, if not goal, of the Iraq debacle.
#11 –
Just partially right. “The last commander in chief rubberstamped every plan the generals came up with” – wrong! If a general gave them information they didn’t like they simply fired the guy (see Gen Shinseki).
Don’t assume “the military” needs to be brought under control, they follow orders – rightly or wrongly. Thankfully they now have a new boss.
-bb
One of the officers at Gitmo stated some time ago something to the effect of “If they weren’t terrorists when they got here, they will be when they leave.”
Nothing like creating your own enemies, huh?
I think even the military tribunals have been rules unconstitutional.
#17–Mike==thanks. I googled that to an uncertain position. The tribunals created by Bush at Gitmo were ruled unconstitutional. Whatever was in place before that should still work. Obama could also have another special law passed by Congress to keep them under some review process closer to the mark and let that process take 3 years to get thru the courts.
I think “the terrorists” have been made into boogeymen and in fact they aren’t that big a threat one way or the other. The threat is islamofascists in charge of foreign state governments==not a couple of dozen foot soldiers.
Bobbo, I like the expense account idea, and sending them to France may leave them wishing for the Good’ol times at Gitmo!
And I REALLY like the idea of Gitmo for white collar criminals which, in my opinion, as a whole has been FAR more damaging to the US than 911.
BTW. ASAP = As Soon As Possible.
It’s hard to keep these acronyms straight!
This a.m. on a Sunday news show Pelosi was interviewed. When asked about having the “Gitmo Guys” transferred to her district she rejected the idea.
What a hypocritical criminal.
#20 – Paddy-RAMBO
>>When asked about having the “Gitmo Guys” transferred
>>to her district she rejected the idea.
She may have rejected the idea on a television show, but it’s the REPUGLICAN lawmakers who are lining up at the word processor, crafting bills (i.e., LAWS) to BAN transferring Gitmo Guys to military bases in their states (or at least to prohibit the use of federal funds to do so, which is pretty much a ban on doing it).
What hypocritical criminals.
# 21 Mister Mustard said, “but it’s the REPUGLICAN lawmakers who are lining up at the word processor, crafting bills (i.e., LAWS) to BAN transferring Gitmo Guys to military bases in their states (or at least to prohibit the use of federal funds to do so,”
Exactly, those who want them to stay in Gitmo, logically don’t want them in the US. Those hypocrites, like Pelosi, who want them in the US, hypocritically refuse them have them in their constituents area.
See the difference?
#22 – Paddy-RAMBO
>>See the difference?
Well, I see a slight distinction, but not exactly the one you allude to.
The bill-writing Repuglicans don’t necessarily “not want them in the US”, or maybe even don’t “want them to stay in Gitmo”. They just DON’T WANT THEM IN THEIR STATES.
I guess the “plan” of ones who want them to stay in Gitmo is to just keep them there until they die, with no evidence, no trial, no legal assistance, just a de facto life sentence.
So those folks are stupid, as well as being hypocritical. The ones like Pelosi (assuming she said what you said she said, although I did not see the TV show, and did not read about her comment or the reasoning that went in to it) are just hypocrites.
# 23 Mister Mustard said, “I guess the “plan” of ones who want them to stay in Gitmo is to just keep them there until they die, with no evidence, no trial, no legal assistance, just a de facto life sentence.”
No. The plan is the same one used by FDR when he threw thousands of innocent American women & children into concentration camps. Wait ’till the war is over then release them.
You agree with using the wisdom of FDR, right?
#22, Cow-Paddy, Ignorant Shit Talking Sociopath, Retired Mall Rent-A-Cop, Pretend Constitutional Scholar, Fake California Labor Law Expert, Pseudo Military Historian, Phony Climate Scientist, and Real Leading Troll Extraordinare,
Those hypocrites, like Pelosi, who want them in the US, hypocritically refuse them have them in their constituents area.
When did Pelosi go on record as saying she wanted them in the US? Please back up your ridiculous claim.
#24 – Paddy-RAMBO
>>You agree with using the wisdom of FDR, right?
I don’t believe I ever said that the Japanese internment during WWII was “wise”, Paddy-RAMBO. I would like to thing that we learned something from it, though. Apparently not.
“The wisdom of FDR” is not what’s being applied here, though.
We’ve already been slogging through the quagmire of Iraq longer than the whole duration our involvement in WWII. And that’s not even the REAL WAR (or at least it wasn’t, until Dumbya turned Iraq into a breeding ground for terrorists).
So. You’re saying that the Repuglican plan is to imprison as many towelheads as possible, until radical Islam is wiped out, and there’s no further threat to the United States?
Huh.
No wonder you Repugs got swept out of office last year. That’s the stupidest fucking “plan” I’ve ever heard of.
So. You’re saying that
#24, Cow-Paddy, Ignorant Shit Talking Sociopath, Retired Mall Rent-A-Cop, Pretend Constitutional Scholar, Fake California Labor Law Expert, Pseudo Military Historian, Phony Climate Scientist, and Real Leading Troll Extraordinare,
No. The plan is the same one used by FDR when he threw thousands of innocent American women & children into concentration camps. Wait ’till the war is over then release them.
Uumm, when did Roosevelt ever condone torturing the Japanese American detainees? Even just answering if the American guard tortured them would suffice. Please back up your ridiculous claim.
@#25 : She did request to close Gitmo. All countries in the World are already on record that they do not want any of these people in any form. What remains as an option? Immediate execution of all of them or moving them to the USA. No other option exists.
(from the pic) it looks like he got promoted from being a Che double to being an Osama double.
#28, Dusan,
Cow-Paddy claims that Pelosi is a hypocrite because she said she doesn’t want them in her district BUT she wants them in the US. I want to see where she said she wants them in the US.
Besides, America kidnapped ALL of the prisoners and brought them to Guantanamo without legal rights. They were all tortured. They have been held for years, most without charges. Those that have been charged can’t see the evidence being used to hold them. It is known that much of the evidence is tainted because it was obtained through torture. The prisoners were denied lawyers for years, even now, the lawyers can’t interview their clients without the session being recorded and listened to by the government.
It is with great joy that I see Obama stopped the sham trials Bush endorsed. Since they were brought here by Bush, maybe they should end up being released in a Dallas suburb and live next door to Bush.
Paddy, you’re kidding, right?
“Wait ’till the war is over then release them.”
What makes you think the war will ever be over? We aren’t fighting a nation that can surrender. We’re fighting individuals who banded together over a common hatred of the west, fueled by fanatics manipulating religious belief that they will be rewarded in heaven for fighting us. Plus, we use tactics that ensure those fighting now can easily create new recruits out of the young who don’t know anything about the West first hand other than Gitmo and our disregard of the democratic laws we say we want them to follow.
This will never end until we pull out completely and stop trying to impose our will on others. No matter how abhorrent and middle ages the radical Islamic societies are to us, it won’t be us who changes them, especially by force. They have the oil and us by the short hairs and nothing we can do militarily (or are willing to do — nukes) will change that other than making them irrelevant by reducing our oil need. And then we still have that whole Israel thing.
War without end. Amen.
Turn Area 51 into Camp Terrorista. The privacy and secrecy issues are already in place, and after the UFOs all turned out to be a cover story for Tacit Blue and T Rex (YTBL*) programs, it’s the perfect place for them. You could even tell them they are at a secret place back in Afghanistan, just to confuse them. Lawyering could be by video.
*Yet To Be Leaked.