Obama's Dangerous Game Of Trying To Close Gitmo

It's no deep secret that the President has wanted to close the terrorist interment facility at Gitmo (Guantanamo Bay, Cuba) since 2009.

Now, 6 years after taking office, he is still saddled with 127 prisoners; having just released 5 more on New Year's Eve at a time when no one was really paying attention.  Those 5 just released were supposedly determined to be of a medium threat.  But, if so, why has it taken more than a decade to find a home for them and the remaining 127?

The truth is, that all the easy-to-transfer inmates had all been moved before Obama took office.  Even so, about 19% of those who left that facility under Bush rejoined the battlefields against the U.S., Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Today, Gitmo houses the worst-of-the-worst, and this is why Obama has had so much difficulty finding countries that will take them. Consider, as an example, the Bergdahl deal.  Those 5 prisoners, who were traded for a possible U.S.deserter, were all extremely high level Taliban commanders and, my guess, is that their return-to-battle rate will be a lot higher than any of those released in the past.  This is the problem with trying to close Gitmo.  We are now faced with freeing some of the worst terrorist bad guys that we had captured.  It would be similar to our prison system dumping every "FBI's Most Wanted" inmates onto the street and expecting them not to return to their former lives of crime.

The statistics prove this out.  Of the 532 detainees released by Bush, the recidivism rate was only 19%.  Today, with Obama having released 88 prisoners since 2009, the rate has gone up to 29% and climbing higher by the day.  In effect, President Obama is hell-bent on freeing the kind of people that could do this country the greatest harm, and that's a very dangerous game to play merely to make good on a 2008 campaign promise. 

References:

US releases 5 more Guantanamo Bay prisoners, sends them to Kazakhstan: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/12/31/us-releases-5-more-guantanamo-bay-prisoners-sends-them-to-kazakhstan/

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl exchanged for top 5 Taliban commanders: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/05/sgt_bowe_bergdahl_ex.php

Under President George W. Bush's tenure, 532 detainees were released from the detention facility.  88 Guantanamo detainees were released by Obama. "The recidivism rate is nearly 29 percent and has been climbing steadily...": https://news.vice.com/article/new-us-intelligence-report-a-former-gitmo-detainee-recently-returned-to-the-fight

Santa Claus, The Tooth Fairy, and the Gitmo5 Aren't a Danger to Americans

While in Europe, and in response to concerns that the release of 5 Taliban leaders might put Americans at risk, Obama said this:

'I wouldn't be doing it if I thought that it was contrary to American national security.'

Well, that statement would have been believable if there hadn't been the Benghazi attack on the U.S. mission in 2012; resulting in a dead Ambassador and 3 other dead Americans.

Prior to that attack there were all kinds of warning signs that said we shouldn't have even been in Benghazi.  The Red Cross, sensing an increasingly dangerous situation, pulled their people out. Following an RPG attack on their Ambassador, the Brits shuttered their doors and left.  Our mission in Benghazi had already seen two attacks prior to 9/11, and, Ambassador Stephens was so concerned about the situation there that he expressed it in various communiques back to the State Department.  Yet, we stayed, with only a dozen out-sourced security personnel; of which, only half were armed.

Now, fast forward to today and the Taliban prisoner swap for deserter Bowe Bergdahl.  Any sane person -- I guess except for Barack Obama -- understands that the release of these people is "absolutely" putting Americans at risk.   These aren't some grunt Taliban followers who fought against us in the Afghan war.  These are all smart people. These are Mullah Omar's top lieutenants who helped him take over Afghanistan; impose and execute the most extreme punishments of Sharia Law; and, who invited in and protected Bin Laden and the rest Al Qaeda to set up their training camps.  In essence, the Taliban is simpatico to the goals of Al Qaeda.

All of these people have spent more than a decade imprisoned by the United States.  They have had years to harden themselves against this country and its policies.  And, because they are the most dangerous of the Taliban, you can be assured that they spent every waking hour plotting against America and praying to Allah for help and guidance.  Just because they are going to spend a year under Qatari monitoring and surveillance doesn't mean that they can't conduct operations against the Afghanistan government; or, more importantly, against the U.S. and it's citizens.  For decades, in this country, mob bosses were able to run their operations from behind bars with less communication capability than these 5 Taliban leaders will have access to.

What Obama has done is show the entire world that we, as country, can be had.  That we are willing to negotiate with terrorists in order to get Americans back.  And, those Americans need not be military. Because of that, almost ever American overseas, is now at risk.  Some predict that the taking of American citizens will only escalate as a result of Obama's actions; with no amount of U.S. security available to protect most of them.

Lastly, the President said that "prisoner swapping" is the normal course of winding down wars.  Yes, but this country has never swapped such high level and dangerous personnel. Need I remind the President of the Nuremberg trials!  In fact, two of these released prisoners are wanted by the U.N. for war crimes.

References:

Obama defends trading five Taliban leaders:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2647208/Obama-defends-efforts-rescue-deserter-Bowe-Bergdahl-insists-administration-did-consult-Congress-despite-GOP-claims-prisoner-swap-illegal.html

Libya: Red Cross pulls out of Benghazi fearing attack: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12767759

Benghazi timeline: How the attack unfolded: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/benghazi-timeline-how-the-attack-unfolded/

US consulate attack in Libya: the warning signs were there in Benghazi: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/9539148/US-consulate-attack-in-Libya-the-warning-signs-were-there-in-Benghazi.html

 Who Are The 5 Guantanamo Detainees In Prisoner Swap?: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/05/31/317704932/who-were-the-five-guant-namo-detainees-released-in-prisoner-swap

The Unintended Consequences of the Guantanamo Decision

There is a law in physics that says that every action has a opposite and equal reaction. This is also true in politics. And, the apparently political Supreme Court's decision about the Guantanamo Bay detainees will have it's equal reaction; mostly negative.

My guess is the the battle field capture of opposing forces by our own military will cease rather than play games with some Federal judge to obtain approval for detainment. The enemy will either be shot dead without any risky attempt to capture them alive or, if they do surrender, they will be immediately handed over to interrogators of some other country. In either case, the comfy quarters and the rules of interrogation by United States forces will be forfeited. There will be no 3-square meals, prayer time, clean cells, exercise periods, and fresh clothing; as was the case in Guantanamo Bay.

This is what those dancing-in-the-streets liberals have doomed all enemy combatants to as a result of this extremely "bad" Supreme Court decision; a decision based more on hating Bush than good law. The consequences of that decision are both far reaching and, as is the case with almost all Supreme Court decision, irreversible. Mark my words!