It seems like the Left has been whining about detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay forever.
Closing Gitmo was so high on the radical Leftists' to-do list that Obama issued an executive order dealing with the closure of the detention facility about 48 hours into his presidential term, on January 22, 2009.
Leftists have painted Gitmo as the place where the U.S. violates human rights, American policy at its worst. They clamored for the release of detainees. What a mistake!
ABC reports that two of the al Qaeda leaders responsible for plotting the Flight 253 attack had been held at Gitmo but were released in 2007. After their release, they entered a rehab program and worked with paints and crayons.
Apparently, the art therapy failed.
Two of the four leaders allegedly behind the al Qaeda plot to blow up a Northwest Airlines passenger jet over Detroit were released by the U.S. from the Guantanamo prison in November, 2007, according to American officials and Department of Defense documents.
...American officials agreed to send the two terrorists from Guantanamo to Saudi Arabia where they entered into an "art therapy rehabilitation program" and were set free, according to U.S. and Saudi officials.
"ART THERAPY REHABILITATION PROGRAM"?
Good grief.
Obviously, releasing them was a disaster.
Guantanamo prisoner #333, Muhamad Attik al-Harbi, and prisoner #372, Said Ali Shari, were sent to Saudi Arabia on Nov. 9, 2007, according to the Defense Department log of detainees who were released from American custody. Al-Harbi has since changed his name to Muhamad al-Awfi.
Both of the former Guantanamo detainees are described as military commanders and appear on a January, 2009 video along with the man described as the top leader of al Qaeda in Yemen, Abu Basir Naser al-Wahishi, formerly Osama bin Laden's personal secretary.
In its Monday statement claiming responsibility for the Northwest bombing, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula called bombing suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab a "hero" and a "martyr" and lauded him for beating U.S. intelligence.
The two-page written claim included a photo of Abdulmutallab and boasted of Al Qaeda's success in designing "advanced explosive packages" that can pass through airport screening undetected.
The statement also asks for attacks upon Americans in the Arabian peninsula, and promises further attacks on the American people.
Why do these Islamic extremists still hate us?
I thought Obama's global apology tour did away with all those bad feelings. It was supposed to be a new era led by a new president. Obama was going to change the world. Why aren't the terrorists cooperating? Why aren't they accepting Obama as the savior and peacemaker he and his followers believe that he is?
That hope of turning the world around via Obama the transcendent one has turned out to be crap.
..."The so-called rehabilitation programs are a joke," a U.S. diplomat said in describing the Saudi efforts with released Guantanamo detainees.
Saudi officials concede its program has had its "failures" but insist that, overall, the effort has helped return potential terrorists to a meaningful life.
One program gives the former detainees paints and crayons as part of the rehabilitation regimen.
PAINTS AND CRAYONS?
That's insane.
How many Gitmo detainees have we released that are actively plotting against us now or preparing to carry out attacks?
Those we haven't released should be on their way to Thomson, Illinois soon.
God help us.
The pressure from the Left to release these terrorists and grant them the rights and protections of the U.S. Constitution has been relentless. We know that the consequences of releasing detainees could prove to be deadly, as was almost the case on Christmas Day.
Obama and his hacks don't get it. We're at war.
Art rehab for Islamic extremists?
Ridiculous.
5 comments:
The left isn't calling for the release of the prisoners in Gitmo - they are asking that the people there be charged with something and tried in a court of law. The idea being, if we can't charge them with something, then, and only then, should they be released.
Note that these two charmers were released by George W. Bush. Note also that they were released into the custody of Saudi Arabia, which promptly freed them. Note further that the recently released TSA manual developed by the Bush administration shows that citizens of Saudi Arabia are not subject to additional security measures when travelling in or into the United States, even though most of the 9/11 terrorists were from Saudi Arabia. And don't forget that wonderful picture of George W. Bush holding hands with the Saudi king.
Don't blame the "left" for this one - the responsibility rests firmly with the policies implemented by GWB, and that is about as "right" as you can get.
Would Guantanamo prisoner #333, Muhamad Attik al-Harbi, and prisoner #372, Said Ali Shari, have been convicted and imprisoned under U.S. laws?
Would you agree that these enemy combatants are clearly bad guys?
They plotted to intentionally kill innocents.
Obviously, it was a mistake for them to be released from Gitmo. Although there's no question that they were released during the Bush administration, I suspect that their release was the result of pressure from Leftists and pathetic so-called human rights groups.
Until the Bush administration came under attack from some Americans and our alleged allies, this wasn't an issue.
By the way, while you're flipping through images of George W. Bush and the Saudi CROWN PRINCE, you might want to recall Obama bowing to Saudi King Abdullah, and the Japanese emperor.
The current President bowing to those foreign leaders shows a level of naiveté and insecurity that is truly unfortunate. Bush holding hands with the King of Saudi Arabia shows a level of intimacy and cozy friendship that, given the role of Saudi Arabia in terrorist attacks on the United States and their failure to do anything to keep 333 and 372 from rejoining the fight against the US, is far more troubling.
I suspect that there was more pressure from Saudi Arabia to release those two than from any "Leftists".
And if they had been plotting to kill people, then why couldn't they be convicted under US law? Was Bush's Justice Dept. so incompetent that they couldn't make a case against any of these guys? Quick question: how many people did the Bush administration convict for terrorist acts after 9/11?
I disagree with your assessment of the holding hands thing. I also disagree with your assessment regarding pressure on the Bush administration to release Gitmo detainees.
I don't know why #333 and #372 were detained in the first place so I can't speculate on charges and convictions. However, it is clear that they are enemies of the United States. That's indisputable.
I don't know the exact figures of how many people were convicted for crimes related to terrorism after 9/11. Certainly, a high profile conviction was Zacarias Moussaoui.
I don't know how many terrorists were killed in the War on Terror, but those numbers are significant.
Quick question: How many people have been convicted on terrorism charges since Obama has been in office?
Turns out Prisoner #333 turned himself in to Saudi authorities some 10 months ago.
According to ABC news:
ABCNews.com reported Monday in error that former Guantanamo prisoner #333, Muhamad Attik al-Harbi, was one of four leaders of the al Qaeda group that claimed responsibility for the attempted bombing.
Al-Harbi, who now goes by the name Muhamad al-Awfi, turned himself in to the Saudi government in Februrary 2009 and therefore could not have played a direct role in organizing the attempt to bring down Northwest flight 253.
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/northwest-flight-253-al-qaeda-leaders-terror-plot/story?id=9434065
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