Gitmo Closing: So this is “Who We Are”

By Ed Hoffman

With Obama’s announcement that he is making good on his promise to close Guantanamo Bay because detaining terrorists is not “who we are,” I am now fully convinced this President has no idea how real Americans think. True, he has been promising to close our Cuban-based prison since his first year in office – but now, after seven years as President (during which the Boston Marathon bombing, the attack in San Bernardino and the global rise of ISIS took place), you would expect Obama to understand America’s reservations on closing Gitmo. I guess not. I am convinced, at this point, that Obama wants to see what more he can do to damage our country before he leaves office – and he cares more about giving Castro back the land that Guantanamo Bay sits on than he does about detaining terrorists.

Maybe you have heard people say how “smart” this decision is, because after all, there are only 91 Gitmo detainees left. That alone is troubling, considering there were 770 terrorists there at one point. Where did they all go? No, they didn’t transfer to American prisons. In fact, only 27 ended up in custody elsewhere and only 17 have died. Here’s where the rest of them are.

According to CNN, the roughly 600 people who left Gitmo from 2002 to 2013 were released back to their home countries. Al Jazeera reports, “Former prisoners are now living their lives in more than 56 countries, with the most being sent to Afghanistan, followed by Saudi Arabia, which has a rehabilitation center. A great many were sent to Pakistan.” So, they’ve all returned back to their quiet lives of farming, sheepherding and practicing their peaceful religion, right? Of course not.

Citing figures from a Director of National Intelligence report, CNN reported that at least 100 of the released prisoners (roughly 16%) are confirmed to have returned to terrorist activities since leaving Gitmo. Another 70 are suspected of reengaging at some point – in other words, they still have terrorist ties so it’s only a matter of time before they act again. We watch them, of course – but with no prison to send them to, what will we do after they act? And by the way, their activities can’t be brushed off as low-level. One of them, Ibrahim al Qosi, now holds a key position in al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Enough said.

Now, let’s talk about who is among those remaining 91 detainees. There’s Khalid Shaikh Mohammed – you know, the principal architect of 9/11. He also helped carry out the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the 2002 murder of Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel Pearl and Richard Reid’s attempted 2001 shoe bombing.

Another prisoner remaining in Gitmo is Abu Zubaydah, another al-Qaida operative and 9/11 plotter. Liberals who want our government to stop torturing terrorists love to remind us that Zubaydah lost an eye during waterboarding, so he’s bound to get some compensation from Obama’s administration upon his release. My guess is he’ll land a sweet CIA informant gig so he can go back to plotting terror attacks on the United States while he pretends he’s helping our government.

Then there’s Ahmed Umar Abdullah al Hikimi, once suspected of being a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden. Hikimi was one of the 30 detainees nicknamed the “Dirty 30,” which was a group that provided some of the best Bin Laden tips while being subjected to the harshest interrogation methods. So since he’s paid his dues in Obama eyes, we’ll probably shield him in immunity too.

Getting the picture yet? These are people who have hurt us badly and will hurt us again – and if they don’t, it will only because we’ll baby them with informant privileges. So that’s “who we are,” folks. No wonder the world has no respect for us anymore.

Ed Hoffman is host of The Main Event on AM590, which airs Saturday 9:30 AM- 10:30 AM and Sunday 4:00 PM- 5:00 PM. Follow him on Twitter @EdHoffman, and like him on Facebook by searching The Main Event 590.