US: 61 ex-Guantanamo inmates return to terrorism

[sabra]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Tuesday that 61 former detainees from its military prison 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 and 43 suspected of "returning to the fight."

He said the figures, updated at the end of December, showed a higher rate of recidivism than seen in a previous report showing 37 former detainees as active militants.

He provided no details about the detainees or their countries of origin.

"The overall known terrorist re-engagement rate has increased to 11 percent" from about 7 percent, Morrell said.

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N13404998.htm

---

I wonder if this has anything to do with Cheney's i-view:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2009/01/2009011...


For Immediate Release
Office of the Vice President
January 13, 2009

Live Interview of the Vice President by Bill Bennett, Morning in America


<snip>

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I think it's a bad decision. Guantanamo is sort of a symbol I guess to the left in this country and maybe to some of our critics overseas. But the fact is it's a very well-run facility. The Red Cross is down there all the time checking on it; reporters are free to go down, members of Congress and so forth, to look at it and see what kind of facility it is. And the fact is it's first-rate.

The other key thing that people forget is that we've got a couple hundred very bad actors down there. We've been through, several times, a scrub of the population in Guantanamo. And a good many more have been returned than we still hold, have been returned to their home countries. Now, out of that group, some number has, in fact, gone back onto the battlefield against us.

So we've not been, I think, especially harsh in terms of the judgments we've made. We have let some people go, and we erred a bit on the side obviously of -- in letting the wrong people go on a few occasions. But now what's left, that is the hardcore. And you've got to decide what you're going to do with those folks before you're going to control -- before you're going to close the facility. These are al Qaeda members. These are people that we captured on the battlefield. These are folks whose main objective in life is to kill Americans.

And the thing I've noticed is there's never yet been a congressman come forward and volunteer to take 250 al Qaeda members in his district. Nobody wants to do that. So then the question is, where are you going to put them? And you've got to sort that all out before you close Guantanamo.

But these are not American citizens. They don't have the rights that an American citizen would have. They are unlawful combatants, terrorists, and by definition, their objective is to achieve their political goals by killing as many civilians as possible. They don't abide by the laws of war.

So it's a good facility. There's a reason why it's there. I used to have the impression this is a classic case where they campaigned so hard against Guantanamo that now they don't have any choice but to try to close it. But that's too bad; they've got a lot of tough questions to answer first.

[Vincardog]

1. If true does anyone think that was because they were treated too well while in custody?

[napi21]

2. That was my first thought too. Maybe Unka Dick should ask McNuts

how HE felt about the Vietnamese shortly after his release?

[Nancy Waterman]

54. Totally not true

Either Rachel or Keith did a piece on this recently and many of those they say "return to the front" were doing really lame things like giving an interview to someone that is being called "returning to the front". Totally bogus!!!

[Tyrone Slothrop]

3. You have to wonder

How many of those 61 had no animosity towards the US until they were kidnapped from their homes, beaten, tortured, humiliated and held without cause or trial for 5 years.

I'm a pacifist (more or less), and I'd probably join the fight if someone did that to me.

[populistdriven]

5. You make an excellent case for us not to release them

[Tyrone Slothrop]

10. Actually, it's an excellent case that we shouldn't have ever detained them in the first place n/t

[populistdriven]

25. well, that too! :)

[Barack_America]

11. Yup.

My thoughts exactly.

[EFerrari]

14. There are no 61. That's a Pentagon fiction.

But, even the fictional ones have more than just cause, don't they?

[Blue_Tires]

51. Press officers at the pentagon should be writing in Hollywood

[awoke_in_2003]

23. Yep, we are creating enemies....

the only thing that has a chance of fixing this is to give those innocent large cash settlements and hope they don't strike back.

[Ichingcarpenter]

4. He provided no details about the detainees or their countries of origin.

Sounds like a tobacco company spokesman

[mrs_p]

6. liar, liar pants on fire

why would we believe a word coming from the pentagon?

[EFerrari]

7. These fake numbers were debunked last summer

at a hearing of the Congressional Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Human Rights. Tuesday, May 20. I'd have to go back and find the name of the organization that creamed the Pentagon on this. But, in sum, what the org did was to take only the Pentagon's own numbers and track those people down. It turned out to be bs.

ETA: Ha! I found it. The report was put together by Seton Hall U of Law. It begins at p. 191 of the hearing transcript:

http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/110/42476.pdf

[frylock]

17. kickeroo..

good find.

[EFerrari]

19. I sent it to Keith and Glen Greenwald and Larissa. Maybe someone

will call Cheney out.

[Soylent Brice]

18. EXCELLENT!

that's some memory you go there.

[EFerrari]

20. Last summer, they said 30 people were back "in combat".

The study turned up ONE.

Typical Cheney.

[Soylent Brice]

21. wow. they really have come to a point where they feel comfortable enough

that they can say whatever they want and that people will blindly sit there and swallow this shit.

pretty amazing.

[EFerrari]

22. As far as I can tell, that's been their m.o. all along,

it just took us a while to figure it out.

But, especially with anything related to torture, our collective memory is about a second long.

[Soylent Brice]

26. agreed

in terms of attention span:

Amurikans = Fruit Flies.

[Politicalboi]

8. So were suppose to believe this

After all the lies from these assholes. We are to believe that 61 detainees went back to terrorism. Were they terrorist to begin with? Probably not. Are they terrorist now after the treatment they received? Probably. They are ready to make this accusation but
"He provided no details about the detainees or their countries of origin". 7 more days of STUPID.

[Name removed]

29. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[RaleighNCDUer]

9. Actually, according to the constitution, they DO have the rights

that citizens do if they are in our justice system. They are in our custody; they have rights. No more and no less than any other criminal in our custody.

[Name removed]

30. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Bette Noir]

12. If Cheney likes Guantanamo so much, he should live there.

[Capt. America]

13. W trying to sandbag Obama? Anyone?

[DUlover2909]

16. Of course they are.

It's funny how the only thing in the current admin that is transparent is their lies and tactics.

[Aristus]

15. What were you expecting, assholes? Candy and flowers?

Oh yeah, that's right. Whenever you invade a country or torture people, you always expect that they will be grateful.

[Arctic Dave]

24. They are setting up a storyline about Obama being soft on terror

because he shut down Gitmo and now all the "terrorist" are back "doing harm" to the good 'ol US. They are already starting to set their 2012 election attacks in motion.

[firehorse]

27. 90% of them were innocent to begin with but 61 return to being terrorists?

Sounds like Gitmo created some terrorists.

[Name removed]

31. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[EFerrari]

32. Here's one. The number I've read is 85% and that was years go

before Rumsfeld's parade of innocent people was very well known:

http://www.commongroundcommonsense.org/forums/lofiversi...

[Name removed]

37. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ima_sinnic]

34. so you have some inside info about their "guilt"? why don't you enlighten us?

Your posts so far have all been quite supportive of this charade.
If you're so sure these people, who have never been tried or even charged, are "guilty," why don't you share what you know?

[Name removed]

38. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ima_sinnic]

40. what is your "challenge"?

repeatedly typing "90% innocent?" is meaningless. Just because you are foolish enough to believe anything the blatant, proven liars have said doesn't mean anybody else has to. If you know for a fact otherwise, spit it out. otherwise, STFU.

[Name removed]

43. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ima_sinnic]

45. has even ONE person been "found guilty"?

what in hell are they waiting for with the Guantanmo detainees? I never hear of any being tried and found guilty, but I have heard of several who were innocent and released.

If they have any kind of case against any of them, why aren't they charged and tried?

please provide evidence that even a few are guilty. Since * has chosen to hold people without charging them or trying them, I can only conclude that they are "political prisoners" who challenge the "authority" of the war criminals. Their detention somehow gives the war criminals an air of legitimacy, as though they have all these "dangerous people" "rounded up." They can also "make examples" of them as they torture and slowly kill them.

What is your great interest in upholding the noble name of bush, cheney, et al. in their LIES?

[EFerrari]

47. It's been so long, I can't find the link but I think it was to an ICRC report

that said 85% of these bakers, grandfathers, tourists, journalists, teenagers had never even handled a weapon. It was THAT disgusting. They were sold into prison by bounty hunters mostly.

I'll try again tomorrow but, damn, it's depressing to revisit this sh!t.

[ima_sinnic]

49. thanks so much for your efforts

but somehow I think certain, er, trolls, won't be "satisfied" no matter what links or evidence you dig up, because apparently it has some interest in maintaining the illusion that we should take the word of bush, cheney et al. at face value, as though they have ever said anything truthful or worthy of consideration.

If they "had" anything with any of these prisoners, they'd be publicizing the case to prove how "dangerous" the prisoners are. So far, nothing. I can only conclude that, like the rest of the abomination they call an "administration," they are full of shit in this matter also.

This prison will forever be a blotch on the name of the U.S., just as Dachau and the others are a blotch on the name of Germany.

[EFerrari]

50. Agreed on both points. lol But, it would be good to have that link in hand

regardless. For the Permanent Record.

[ima_sinnic]

42. here, here's an example of the "terrorists" being held at Guantanamo

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

how many more like this child are there?

but keep blathering about "Islamic terrorists" and how they are an "exception" and don't qualify for the right to a fair trial or even habeas corpus.

[Name removed]

44. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[EFerrari]

46. Oh, bullshit. When you have Donald Rumsfeld running wars

and Dick Cheney authorizing torture, this is the results you get.

Islamic militants, my granny.

[EFerrari]

33. 61 returned to terrorism like all of them were guilty. Cheney math. n/t

[Dumak]

28. Gee, this sounds like ... Lies (And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them)

[superconnected]

36. Bingo - and the fact that it starts with "THE VICE PRESIDENT ..."

nails it.

[superconnected]

35. As if I'd trust Cheneys statistics or anything he says.

Guess what - Cheney and Bush both have a 100 percent chance of going back to being war criminals if either got a chance to be back into office and it were a peaceful time.

[4_Legs_Good]

39. I really don't understand why we can't just charge and imprision these people in a conventional

manner.

Why does it have to be secret, and in Cuba? I'm as outraged as anyone that there are former detainees that go back to fight aginst Americans, but I really don't see why Gitmo is the solution.

David

[ima_sinnic]

41. because it might come out that they really aren't guilty of anything?

because there really is no evidence at all against them except that they were at the wrong place at the wrong time?

[EFerrari]

48. Because most of them never did anything. They were window dressing

for Rumsfeld. That's the real problem.

[Every Man A King]

52. Umm most of them are innocent n/t

[Doctor_J]

53. Is there any chance this propaganda will cease starting today?

Will Big Media continue telling us how "Al Qaeda #2 was killed again today" and "The surge is working" and the rest of Rove's talking points?

That was one of the worst things about the last 8 years - hearing how great everything was going.