Posted on 10/23/2004 12:38:45 PM PDT by neverdem
At least eight inmates freed from Guantanamo Bay return to battle U.S. and coalition troops.
WASHINGTON — At least eight inmates released from detention at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have returned to the battlefield against U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan and Pakistan, prompting complaints inside the Pentagon that international pressure had undermined the U.S. effort to fight Islamic fundamentalism.
The most recent case is that of Abdullah Mehsud, a former Taliban commander released from the detention facility in March, who masterminded the recent kidnapping of two Chinese engineers in Pakistan. One of the engineers was killed during an Oct. 14 rescue attempt by the Pakistani military.
The Mehsud case and incidents involving at least seven other former detainees demonstrate that mounting international pressure to either file charges against the prisoners or release them has led to inevitable mistakes, officials say.
"I think it's time to question whether we are releasing too many of them," said a senior Defense Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "The sheer number of people we are seeing on the battlefield is cause for concern."
With the fading memory of the Sept. 11 attacks, officials say, international sympathy and legal support have gradually increased for about 550 inmates currently at the Guantanamo facility. Many have been held without charges or court hearings.
Since late 2002, the Pentagon has released 202 detainees from Guantanamo, 146 of whom have been freed outright and 56 who have been handed over to the government of their homelands.
Officials were also alarmed that Mehsud, a Pakistani national, may have hidden his true identity from U.S. interrogators during his 25 months in captivity. Recently, he has bragged to Pakistani reporters that he convinced his U.S. captors he was of Afghan descent.
"If he fibbed, we've..."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Shoot first.....ask questions later. This is a good way not to involve the NAACP.......
"international pressure had undermined..."
That's a lie. It wasn't international pressure that did it. It was the domestic leftwingers, including those at the LA Times. They just can't admit that they are to blame.
Try bugmenot.com if you don't want to register for access.
Be sure to thank all Leftists, Democrats and the ACLU for giving the enemy yet another chance to kill our troops!
Why am I not surprised by this?
Gee, ya think?
How many people have to die in order for these idiots to realise that you don't free the bad guys?
The liberals, lawyers, and courts won't take responsibility for their screwups, and shouldn't be let anywhere near the military.
The moral of the story: Take no prisoners.
He was responding to political pressures. You can say that it's all Bush's fault if you want, but you can be certain he would not have done it if the lefties had not made it an issue.
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