Pentagon: 61 ex-Guantanamo inmates return to terrorism

[GSPowner]

Reuters:

WASHINGTON (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.

The numbers were generated by the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency based on fingerprints, photographs and intelligence reports, he said.

President-elect Barack Obama, who takes office on Tuesday, is expected to issue an executive order to close the Guantanamo Bay prison, possibly within his first week in office.

About 255 men are still held at the U.S.-run naval base in Cuba, a symbol of aggressive interrogation methods that exposed the United States to allegations of torture.

Washington has cleared 50 of the detainees for release but cannot return them to their home countries because of the risk they would be tortured or persecuted there.

Around 500 others have been freed or transferred to other governments since 2002.

Pentagon officials say scores of detainees still in custody should never be released because of the potential danger they pose to U.S. interests.


http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE50C5JX20090113?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=22&sp=true


Maybe they should have been detained?

[babylonsister]

1. Maybe their illegal detainment helped convince them to pick sides. nt

[niyad]

2. how do they know all of this? are the people wearing monitors or something?

seriously, can we believe ANYTHING said by anybody in this admin--including the pentagon?

[babylonsister]

5. Cheney told them:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4821536

[YOY]

3. Well if you had put them in jail using evidence and a proper trial they wouldn't be.

n.t.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

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

[YOY]

8. UN Courts.

and the word is privileges.

[endarkenment]

10. Oh thank you for playing "where's my bill of rights"

now, for 100 points, please list the rights that are qualified by "must be a citizen":

[Bad Thoughts]

12. Aren't they all "inalienable human rights"? n/t

[endarkenment]

13. that would be the dec. of independence

not the constitution. Although there was that debate - with some insisting, and quite correctly, that any enumeration of rights would result in limiting our inalienable rights as described in the declaration to those put down on paper and then to whatever twist was put on those words.

The OP, who as far as I can tell is some sort of visitor here, has no clue of course. He is parroting the idiocy he listens to on Hate Radio and False Noise. The constitution very rarely describes citizenship as a limiting factor, generally regarding voting or holding federal offices. Most rights are ascribed to 'the people' and that category means just what it says: human beings, although of course the definition of what was a human being at the time essentially excluded women and slaves.

The whole point of gitmo and the entire 'rendition' program is to keep our torture centers outside of any federal court jurisdiction so that the rights of those being tortured and abused cannot be protected by meddling bleeding heart librul latte drinking cheese eating lawyers as they can't find a court to hear their challenges.

[YOY]

14. Aw...he went bye-bye...

FReeps and their "indepth" political/legal/economic knowledge. It's like shooting ducks in a barrel.

I swear we should have a national fund to force them to take 3 college level course in the above mentioned topics.

[Blaze Diem]

4. What? Rummy had no rehab plan in place? If they didn't hate the US before they were detained,

well they certainly have reason to now. Thanks Bush, ya know, for "keeping America Safe", You Fu*king Idiot.

[libodem]

6. Wasn't that the whole point?

I figured that's what Bush had in mind. Create a permanent pissed off fighting mad group of Muslims to create some CIA business. Business will be booming in the Revenge sector. I don't doubt they were brainwashed with selected programing to hate the USA and give the Spy trade a shot in the arm.

[endarkenment]

9. They filed their official terrorist papers?

sniff test failed

[4_TN_TITANS]

11. Can anyone really blame them?

As if there is any credible backup to this claim...