Posted on 01/20/2009 2:48:21 AM PST by Cindy
Quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2425006/posts
Editorial: Obama’s havoc to the intel system - President establishes intelligence death panels
The Washington Times ^ | January 11, 2010 | The Editors
Posted on January 9, 2010 9:05:04 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
President Obama blamed “the system” for failing to stop al Qaeda’s Christmas Day bombing plot. The weakness with that excuse is that Mr. Obama fails to connect the dots between the systemic failure and his administration’s year-long record of destroying the morale of the intelligence community.
The intelligence process works in large part because of trust. A reliable sense of confidence must exist between superiors and subordinates, agents and sources, and the intelligence community and policy makers. Without trust, people will not take the risks needed to do their jobs successfully.
Mr. Obama has destroyed this sense of trust. On his watch, the intelligence community has suffered a year of body blows. He made great theater of signing an executive order closing the terrorist detainee facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In April, the president authorized the release of the so-called “torture memos” on enhanced interrogation techniques used against detainees, and suggested that Congress establish a bipartisan review panel to look into the authorization of extraordinary interrogation methods.
Mr. Obama said, “for those who carried out ... these operations within the four corners of legal opinions or guidance ... provided from the White House, I do not think it’s appropriate for them to be prosecuted.” He then authorized Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to begin an investigation, even though career prosecutors at the Justice Department already had examined the circumstances and found no CIA violations of law.
Disputes arose with Congress over the extent to which members had been briefed on the enhanced interrogation program, in particular what Speaker Nancy Pelosi knew and when she knew it.(continued)
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/January/10-ag-078.html
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, January 25, 2010
United States Transfers Three Guantanamo Bay Detainees to Slovakia
The Department of Justice today announced that three detainees have been transferred from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the Government of Slovakia.
As directed by the President’s Jan. 22, 2009, Executive Order, the interagency Guantanamo Review Task Force conducted a comprehensive review of each of these cases. As a result of that review, which examined a number of factors, including security issues, the detainees were approved for transfer by unanimous consent among all the agencies involved in the Task Force. In accordance with Congressionally-mandated reporting requirements, the Administration informed Congress of its intent to transfer the detainees at least 15 days before their transfer.
Yesterday, the three detainees were transferred to the Government of Slovakia. The identities of these three individuals are being withheld at the request of the Government of Slovakia for security and privacy reasons. The United States is grateful to the Government of Slovakia for its willingness to support U.S. efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.
These transfers were carried out under individual arrangements between the United States and the Government of Slovakia. The United States coordinated with the government of Slovakia to ensure the transfers took place under appropriate security measures and consultations regarding these individuals will continue.
Since 2002, more than 570 detainees have departed Guantanamo Bay for other destinations, including Albania, Algeria, Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Belgium, Bermuda, Chad, Denmark, Egypt, France, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, Pakistan, Palau, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Spain, Sweden, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom and Yemen.
Note: The following post is a quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2439885/posts
Military Commission Charges Withdrawn In Sept. 11 Case
DEFENSE.gov - Release No. 060-010 ^ | January 22, 2010 | n/a
Posted on January 28, 2010 10:06:50 PM PST by Cindy
Note: The following text is a quote:
IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 060-010 January 22, 2010 Military Commission Charges Withdrawn In Sept. 11 Case
The Defense Department announced today that the convening authority for Military Commissions withdrew and dismissed the charges, without prejudice, against the five detainees charged in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
This action comes in light of the announcement by the attorney general of the United States that the Department of Justice intends to pursue a prosecution of Khalid Sheik Mohammed, Walid Bin Attash, Ramzi Bin al Shibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, in federal court in the Southern District of New York.
Given the determination that prosecution of these detainees will be pursued in federal court, it was appropriate to withdraw the pending military commission charges and dismiss them without prejudice. This action is a procedural step, which is part of a normal process, when an alternative forum is chosen.
The convening authority took a similar action May 29, 2009, when charges against Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani were withdrawn and dismissed without prejudice after a decision was made to pursue prosecution of Ghailani in federal court.
Note: The following post is a quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2452918/posts
John Brennan’s 20% Doctrine
Investors.com ^ | February 16, 2010 | INVESTORS BUSINESS DAILY Staff
Posted on February 16, 2010 5:45:36 PM PST by Kaslin
War On Terror: The White House doesn’t think it’s “that bad” that one in five detainees released from Gitmo have resumed terrorist activities. Insanely, it can’t wait to free more of them.
The Pentagon’s latest accounting of ex-Gitmo prisoners reveals that at least 20% of them have joined or are suspected of joining terrorist groups like al-Qaida. The White House tried to shrug off the new report, which threatens the president’s case for closing the military prison. Outrageously, deputy National Security Council adviser John Brennan argued that, compared with the 50% recidivism rate in U.S. prisons, “20% isn’t that bad.”
Once again, the Obama administration is putting Islamic terrorists in league with common criminals, which decidedly is not an apples-to-apples comparison. If a pot dealer or shoplifter goes back on the street and picks up where he left off, that’s one thing. But it’s very different if a terrorist goes back on the street or returns to the battlefield.
Brennan’s indifference is appalling, especially in light of the fact that some Gitmo releases are now heading al-Qaida’s operations in Yemen, where the crotch-bomber was trained. In fact, ABC News reported that two of the four leaders behind the al-Qaida plot to blow up the airliner over Detroit were released from Gitmo in 2007.
The White House is trying to justify more releases, which is riskier, because the prison population has dwindled to a much smaller and harder core. The remaining 200 detainees are the worst of the worst, and recidivism rates are sure to rise if they are released, too.
(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...
“Holder admits nine Obama Dept. of Justice officials worked for terrorist detainees, offers no details”
By: Byron York
Chief Political Correspondent
02/19/10 3:52 PM EST
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,586117,00.html
“EXCLUSIVE: Former Gitmo Prisoner, Rehabilitated in Saudi Arabia, May Soon be Released”
Thursday, February 18, 2010
By Judith Miller
“Former Gitmo detainee Ahmed Zaid Salem Zuhair, in a Saudi terror rehabilitation camp, will soon be released.”
SNIPPET: “RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — To American officers at Guantanamo Bay, Ahmed Zaid Salem Zuhair was inmate No. 669 — a hardcore, veteran Muslim terrorist suspected of having killed an American in Bosnia. But here in Saudi Arabia, he is a “beneficiary,” a former religious deviant who, having learned the true meaning of Islam, has been rehabilitated.
Repatriated from Guantanamo in mid-2009, Zuhair, 45...”
“Former Gitmo detainee said he just wanted to go home — instead, now he’s a jihad leader in Afghanistan”
LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan -
SNIPPET: “Abdul Qayyum is also seen as a leading candidate to be the next No. 2 in the Afghan Taliban hierarchy, said the officials, interviewed last week by The Associated Press.”
SNIPPET: “U.S. intelligence asserts that 20 percent of suspects released from the Guantanamo Bay prison have returned to the fight and that the number has been steadily increasing. Qayyum’s key aide in plotting attacks on Afghan and international forces is another former Guantanamo prisoner, said the Afghan intelligence officials as well as a former Helmand governor, Sher Mohammed Akundzada. Abdul Rauf, who told his U.S. interrogators that he had only loose connections to the Taliban, spent time in an Afghan jail before being freed last year.
He rejoined the Taliban, they said. Akundzada said he warned the authorities against releasing both him and Qayyum....”
http://www.truthusa.com/911.html
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2167923/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2465744/posts
#
http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/wouldn’t-you-know
“Wouldn’t You Like to Know
The ‘most transparent administration in history’ stonewalls.”
BY STEPHEN F. HAYES
March 15, 2010, Vol. 15, No. 25
SNIPPET: “So, too, are thousands of pages of documents on the Guantánamo detainees the Obama administration has transferred or released over the past 14 months. When Obama came to office there were approximately 242 detainees remaining at Guantánamo. With a few exceptions, these individuals were still at Gitmo for a very good reason: They were among the most dangerous of the jihadists captured by the United States since September 11, 2001.
There are now 188 detainees at Guantánamo. Who are the 54 detainees no longer there?”
SNIPPET: “Consider the case of Abdullahi Sudi Arale, who was sent to Guantánamo Bay on June 6, 2007.
The Pentagon certainly considered him a highly dangerous terrorist at that time: “Abdullahi Sudi Arale is suspected of being a member of the al Qaeda terrorist network in East Africa, serving as a courier between East Africa Al Qaeda (EAAQ) and Al Qaeda in Pakistan. Since his return from Pakistan to Somalia in September 2006, he has held a leadership role in the EAAQ-affiliated Somali Council of Islamic Courts (CIC).” The Pentagon noted that there was “significant information available” to demonstrate Arale’s assistance to terrorists “in acquiring weapons and explosives” and his role in “facilitat[ing] terrorist travel by providing false documents” for al Qaeda and other terrorists.
Arale was released from Gitmo on December 19, 2009. The good news, to the extent that there is any, is that the Obama administration actually announced that they were transferring Arale. The bad news is that they did so without any explanation of their decision. And the really bad news is that the place they said they were transferring him to—“Somali-land”—does not actually exist. Neither the United States nor any other country recognizes the government of Somaliland—which declared itself independent of Somalia in 1991.
So where was Arale sent? Who is responsible for keeping track of him? Where is he now? And why did the Obama administration come to a conclusion about his activities that was so at odds with the views of the U.S. military officials who originally detained him and sent him to Guantánamo Bay? There are, yet again, no answers to crucial questions.”
http://www.truthusa.com/911.html
#
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,589769,00.html
(THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
“Judge Orders Release of Gitmo Detainee With Ties to 9/11 Attacks”
Monday, March 22, 2010
WASHINGTON —
SNIPPET: “Mohamedou Ould Slahi was accused in the 9/11 Commission report of helping recruit Mohammed Atta and other members of the Al Qaeda cell in Hamburg, Germany, that took part in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Military prosecutors suspected Slahi of links to other Al Qaeda operations, and considered seeking the death penalty against him while preparing possible charges in 2003 and 2004.”
SNIPPET: “Brig. Gen. John Furlow, who helped lead a Pentagon-ordered investigation into detainee abuse at Guantanamo Bay, has testified that Slahi was “the highest value detainee” at the offshore prison and “the key orchestrator of the Al Qaeda cell in Europe.””
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/March/10-ag-297.html
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
United States Transfers Three Guantanamo Bay Detainees to Georgia
The Department of Justice today announced that three detainees have been transferred from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the custody and control of Georgia.
As directed by the President’s January 22, 2009 Executive Order, the interagency Guantanamo Review Task Force conducted a comprehensive review of these cases. As a result of that review, which examined a number of factors, including security issues, the detainees were approved for transfer by unanimous consent among all the agencies involved in the Task Force. In accordance with Congressionally-mandated reporting requirements, the Administration informed Congress of its intent to transfer these detainees at least 15 days before their transfer.
Earlier today, three detainees, whose identities are being withheld for security and privacy reasons, were transferred to Georgia. The United States is grateful to Georgia for its willingness to support U.S. efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.
These transfers were carried out under an arrangement between the United States and Georgia. The United States coordinated with the Georgia to ensure the transfers took place under appropriate security measures and consultations regarding these individuals will continue.
Since 2002, more than 580 detainees have departed Guantanamo Bay for other destinations.
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2010/02/the_talibans_top_lea.php
http://www.longwarjournal.org/cgi-bin/mt-search.cgi?tag=Guantánamo&blog_id=1
#
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2010/03/former_gitmo_detaine_2.php
“Former Gitmo detainee leads top Taliban council”
By BILL ROGGIO
March 23, 2010 11:09 AM
SNIPPET: “Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar has named two new leaders to replace the head of its leadership council, who was detained in Pakistan earlier this year. One of the two new leaders was released from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in 2007.
Mullah Abdul Qayum Zakir and Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansur have been named by Omar to replace Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a Taliban operative named Abu Zabihullah told Newsweek.”
SNIPPET: “Zakir is a former detainee at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility who was released by the US in December 2007 and sent to Afghanistan, where he was subsequently released by the Afghan government. Zakir, whose real name is Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul, quickly rejoined the Taliban and took over operations in the strategic Afghan South.”
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2010/03/former_gitmo_detaine_3.php
“Former Gitmo detainee targeting Afghan charities”
By THOMAS JOSCELYN & BILL ROGGIO
March 24, 2010 8:26 AM
SNIPPET: “A former Guantanamo detainee transferred from the detention facility to Afghanistan on Dec. 19, 2009, has already returned to the Taliban’s ranks, according to multiple intelligence officials contacted by the Long War Journal. The former detainee was identified in documents produced at Guantanamo as Abdul Hafiz (as well as an alternative name, Abdul Qawi) and given an internment serial number of 1030.
During the more than six years he was held at Guantanamo, Hafiz was repeatedly identified as “a suspect in the murder of an International Red Cross worker in Afghanistan.” Memos produced at Guantanamo also alleged that Hafiz participated in the jihad against the Soviets, ran madrassas and recruited young men to fight for the Taliban, was “responsible for maintaining contacts with Mullah Mohammed Omar,” and fought in a 40-man militia comprised of fighters from the Taliban and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s insurgency group. [For a profile of Hafiz, see LWJ report: “Gitmo detainee implicated in Red Cross murder transferred to Afghanistan.”]
Despite the fact that Hafiz was implicated in the murder of an ICRC worker, and alleged to have substantial ties to senior Taliban officials, he was transferred to Afghanistan. Shortly thereafter, Hafiz rejoined the Taliban.
Targeting charities in Afghanistan
Earlier this week, Newsweek’s Declassified blog reported that Mullah Omar had replaced Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Omar’s top military deputy, with two Taliban militia leaders after Baradar was captured in Pakistan last month. The two Taliban militia leaders are Mullah Abdul Qayum Zakir, himself a former Gitmo detainee, and Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor.”
#
Previously...
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/12/gitmo_detainee_impli.php
“Gitmo detainee implicated in Red Cross murder transferred to Afghanistan”
By THOMAS JOSCELYN
December 23, 2009 1:05 PM
SNIPPET: “The US government transferred an Afghan implicated in the killing of a Red Cross worker from Guantanamo to his home country last week. The former Gitmo detainee, Abdul Hafiz, was reportedly captured by US Special Forces in Afghanistan in April 2003. That raid targeted suspected terrorists who were involved in the kidnapping and murder of Ricardo Munguía, an employee of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), on March 27, 2003.
“We believe we have killed the assassin that attacked the ICRC worker,” Army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Doug Lefforge said at the time. Seven others were captured, including a few who were suspected of involvement in Munguía’s killing. “Now that we have these people, we can verify which group they’re from,” Lefforge added. “They are still being interrogated.”
Abdul Hafiz was shipped off to Guantanamo, where his interrogations continued. While he was detained at Gitmo, Hafiz was repeatedly accused of being a “suspect” with “links” to Munguía’s murder.
For instance, a Feb. 22, 2005 memo prepared for Hafiz’s first administrative review board hearing at Gitmo identifies him as “a suspect in the murder of an International Red Cross worker in Afghanistan.” Other documents prepared at Gitmo identify Munguía as the Red Cross worker in question.
Hafiz was also accused of being “affiliated with the death of two individuals in Kabul, Afghanistan.” It is not clear who those two individuals are, however, as they are not identified in the US government’s documents.
A key piece of evidence pointing to Hafiz’s role in Munguía’s killing was his satellite phone, which “has been linked to the ICRC murder,” according to memos prepared by US officials. During his combatant status review tribunal (CSRT) and administrative review board (ARB) hearings at Gitmo, Hafiz did not deny that he was in possession of the satellite phone, which had his fingerprints all over it.”
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/03/29/gitmo-detainees-return-terror
Updated March 29, 2010
“More Guantanamo Detainees Are Returning to Terror Upon Release”
By Diane Macedo - FOXNews.com
SNIPPET: “Senior U.S. official confirms new addition to growing list of more than 100 released Guantanamo Bay detainees who have returned to terrorism.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2523826/posts
Inside the Gitmo Task Force’s Final Report
WEEKLY STANDARD.com - blogs ^ | May 27, 2010 10:55 AM | BY THOMAS JOSCELYN
Posted on May 29, 2010 2:08:45 PM PDT by Cindy
Note: 3 page article.
“Inside the Gitmo Task Force’s Final Report”
SNIPPET: “President Obama’s own task force concluded that 95 percent of the Gitmo detainees had at least some connection to the terror network.”
SNIPPET: “On January 22, President Obama’s Guantanamo Review Task Force completed its final report, which outlined the administration’s plan for the remaining detainees held at Guantanamo. The Task Force was set up as part of the president’s effort to close Gitmo.
THE WEEKLY STANDARD has obtained a copy of the report, as well as Attorney General Eric Holder’s transmittal memorandum. As explained below, the Task Force concluded that 95 percent of the detainees held at Gitmo, as of January 2009, had at least some noteworthy connection to the terrorist network.
The Task Force also concluded that the 240 detainees subject to its review, and held at Gitmo on President Obama’s first day in office, should be treated as follows:
126 of the detainees were approved for transfer to either their home nations or third countries. 59 of the 126 detainees had previously been approved for transfer by the Bush administration. As of the date the report was finalized, January 22, 44 of the 126 detainees had already been transferred. Several more detainees have been transferred since then.
36 detainees were referred for active prosecutions, either by a federal court or military commission. Initially, the Task Force recommended 44 detainees be prosecuted, but 8 were taken off the prosecution list for various reasons. 1 of those 8 was granted his habeas corpus petition by a District Court Judge.
48 detainees will be held indefinitely under Obama’s plan. These detainees “were determined to be too dangerous to transfer but not feasible for prosecution.””
(Excerpt) Read more at weeklystandard.com ...
www.revolutionmuslim.com/2010/05/marine-brags-on-facebook-about.html
freedetainees.org/
#
http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/202651.php
May 28, 2010
“ATTN Linda G Richards aka Linda Ghaliyaa Richard aka Taliba al-Quran aka Free Detainees”
Posted by By Allahakchew aka SH at May 28, 2010 02:25 PM
Quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2524300/posts
FORMER GITMO DETAINEE FEATURED AS COMMANDER IN AL QAEDA TAPE
LONG WAR JOURNAL.org ^ | May 28, 2010 | THOMAS JOSCELYN
Posted on May 30, 2010 3:37:53 PM PDT by Cindy
Note: Photo included.
PHOTO CAPTION: “Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Othman Ahmed al Ghamdi, in a tape released by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.”
SNIPPET: “A videotape released by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) earlier this week says that a former Guantanamo detainee is now a commander within the terrorist organization.
The former detainee, Othman Ahmed al Ghamdi, has risen to the rank of operational commander within AQAP as other senior terrorists within the organization have been killed in recent strikes. The tape, which is titled “America and the Final Trap,” confirms that three AQAP leaders were killed in a strike last December.
According to a translation of the tape obtained by the Long War Journal, al Ghamdi denounces the airstrikes, claiming that America refuses to confront al Qaeda directly on the battlefield. (Of course, al Qaeda itself prefers terrorist attacks against civilians, rather than direct warfare.)
Along with other AQAP leaders featured in the video, al Ghamdi portrays counterterrorism operations in Yemen as part of a crusade led by America against the Muslim world. This is a standard part of al Qaeda’s propaganda.
Also featured in the tape are Qasim al Raymi, AQAP’s military commander, and Fahd al Quso, an al Qaeda operative wanted for his role in the USS Cole bombing.
In the tape, AQAP threatens America with further terrorist attacks.”
(Excerpt) Read more at longwarjournal.org ...
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