October 19, 2004

The Willie Hortons of Guantanomo Prison

James Joyner links this article about freed Guantanamo Bay prisoners who return to a life of jihad and terrorism. According to the article, of the 146 who were released from Guantanamo "after U.S. officials had determined that they no longer posed threats and had no remaining intelligence value" at least seven have returned to their former goal of bringing about the global Caliphate. None, as far as I can tell, has actually disavowed the Islamist ideology. Forget what the politicians are saying--this is not just a war against terrorism it is a war against an ideology that is every bit as evil as Nazi fascism, Japanese Imperialism, or Soviet Communism.

The article only includes this little tidbit about what the seven have been up to:

One released detainee killed a judge leaving a mosque in Afghanistan...

Maulvi Abdul Ghaffar was killed by Pakistani troops in South Waziristan on Sept. 26th after he rejoined the Taliban.

Slimane Hadj Abderrahmane went back to Denmark where he initially threatened to sue the US over 'unlawful detention'. However, he has recently announced his intentions of dropping the suit and leaving Scandinavia to join the Chechen jihadis fighting in Russia.

Abdullah Mehsud returned to Pakistan where he recently mastermined the kidnapping of two Chinese nationals. Both hostages were killed and the Pakistanis are presently in an intense manhunt trying to capture him.

If any of you knows the fate of any of the other released prisoners, I'd love to hear from you.

Other bloggers running the Willie Horton of Gitmo story: (Hat tip to James Joyner) Steve Green, Sean Hackbarth, Digger, Right on Red, Six Meat Buffet, Llama Butchers