The Washington Post has a long front page story (5/3/13) about thee prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay, and the renewed debate over what the U.S. government can do to free those who it cannot charge with any crimes.
“There are 166 detainees at Guantanamo Bay, 86 of whom have been cleared for transfer by an interagency task force,” the Post reports.
But then the paper’s Peter Finn and Julie Tate grant a U.S. official anonymity to explain
that 56 of the 86 cleared detainees are from Yemen. In 2010, after a plot to bring down a U.S. commercial airline over Detroit was found to originate in Yemen, the administration suspended transfers to that country because of concerns about the security there and the possibility that detainees could reengage in extremist activity.
Hold on a second. If these people are being held without charge, and there is no available evidence to charge them with any terrorism-related offenses, why is the Post talking about the possibility that they may “reengage in extremist activity”?
This is reminiscent of the reports the Pentagon used to churn out—and outlets like the New York Times so eagerly reported without skepticism—about how former prisoners were “returning” to the battlefield after being released.
If Guantanamo prisoners were guilty of something, you’d expect the U.S. would charge them with something. In most cases, they’ve haven’t. So why treat them otherwise?
Ah the wonderment of Black/White DoubleThink.
If the person is not doing terrorist actions but is picked up anyway, when they are released they will return to what they were doing prior; which means they will be subject to be picked up again. Thus, by performing non-terrorist activities they are engaging in terrorists activities.
If you consider a credo of “guilty until proven innocent (if then)” an example of “extremist activity”
Then the Post perforce cannot “reengage” in it.
Their perversion of jurisprudence is perpetual.
I say let em go home.They can’t be any worse than that nest of hornets already facing us.What is a few more let loose into the hive?Of course if they are ever arrested on any more charges, or involvement- I believe a quick bullet behind the ear should be their lot n life.And no belly aching about it from you lot of liberal college puddins.Go home I say to them and sin no more.Not against us anyway.There wont be a second chance!
If it were up to me they would have already been executed long ago. It would now be a non-issue.