Terrorists Returning to the Battlefield

For several years human rights activists and defense attorneys have argued that the detainees at Guantanamo pose no security threat and should be released. President Obama, based on a campaign pledge, issued an executive order closing the controversial prison.

In a recent report the Brookings Institution examined hundreds of pages of declassified military documents and arrived at the conclusion that many of the prisoners held without charges are innocent. The report concludes that only 87 of the 250 detainees have any relationship with al Qaeda, the Taliban or other armed groups hostile to the United States.

Several days later, however, the Pentagon released a report indicating that suspects who had been held, but subsequently released from the Guantanamo prison are increasingly returning to fight against the United States and its allies.

Sixty-one detainees released from the U.S Naval Base prison in Cuba are believed to have rejoined the struggle against the United States. The total is up from the 37 reported in March 2008.

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell indicated that “There clearly are people who are being held at Guantanamo who are still bent on doing harm to America, Americans and our allies. So there will have to be some solution for the likes of them, and that is among the thorny issues that the president and his new team are carefully considering.” Furthermore Mr. Morrell said, the new numbers show a “substantial increase” in detainees returning to terrorist missions, from 7 to 11 percent. Presumably intelligence, photographs and forensic evidence such as fingerprints and DNA were used to tie the detainees to terrorist activity.

These contradictory reports raise important questions: Is Brookings right, is the Pentagons report on target or do both have valid positions however different in orientation?

One thing is clear: the notion of 61 or even one released detainee trying to kill Americans is unacceptable. Moreover, the trend is in the wrong direction.

If the president ultimately closes Guantanamo, what will he do with the 250 detainees? Will they be released on the streets of the United States? Will they be sent abroad to fight against American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan?

Human rights attorneys representing the detainees often claim most are innocent of terrorism, but if that were true they wouldn’t return to the battlefield as soon as they are released.

It is instructive that most of the activists are persuaded the detainees pose no threat. That may even be the case with a few of them. Overlooked in their calculation is that these prisoners were apprehended on the battlefield. They aren’t criminals who robbed a supermarket; they are trained as killers intent at mayhem. For most Americans, holding these terrorists is a good idea and, to assume they have the rights of American citizens, a very bad idea.

So despite all the declarations suggesting these detainees can be trusted, I demur. Let those go who have incontrovertible evidence they aren’t a threat. The rest, however, should be kept in prison weather it is Guantanamo or any other venue that will have them. Guantanamo made sense, but since it has been caricatured and denounced, alternatives must be found.

But the idea that all of these detainees should be released is absurd on every level, a point even President Obama has come to appreciate. Far better to deny the rights of terrorists then to have them on the battlefield attempting to kill American soldiers.

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