Posted on 12/29/2007 10:27:34 AM PST by knighthawk
Yes, you could argue, were you so inclined, that Benazir Bhutto might well be alive today if only Washington had not leaned on her to return to Pakistan for the sake of a U.S.-brokered political deal that was perhaps not in her personal best interest.
More to the point, you could argue that Benazir Bhutto might well be alive today if only Abdullah Mehsud had not been let loose from Guantanamo, where he plainly belonged, regardless of what the bleaters and hand-wringers thought about that.
But, as our Washington man James Gordon Meek today reports, Mehsud convinced somebody in charge down Gitmo way that he was naught but some poor innocent swept up in the fog of war and unjustly jugged. Such a big meanie the U.S. government was for persecuting so harmless a fellow. And so he went free, one of about 450 Gitmo detainees disimprisoned in the past few years.
Whereupon, like at least several dozen other releasees whose post-Gitmo careers have been documented, he went straight back to the battlefields, wreaking righteous jihad upon the infidel. In his case, he reiterated himself as a notorious Talibanesque commander in wild and woolly tribal Waziristan, well known to authorities, running a group that specialized in kidnapping foreign aid workers and blowing up Pakistani soldiers.
Abdullah Mehsud himself was reportedly killed in action a few months back. But his outfit has lived on. Just a week or so ago, it sent out one of its suicide bombers to attack a school bus and maim a bunch of children.
And chief among the late Abdullah's lieutenants has been a kid brother, one Baitullah Mehsud - who yesterday, per transcripts of purportedly intercepted terrorist communications, was identified by Pakistani security forces as the man behind the assault upon Benazir Bhutto's motorcade.
No, it can't be concluded that Madame Bhutto's death warrant was sealed the day Big Brother Abdullah walked out of Guantanamo. Still, events are events. And it is useful to consider the words of Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, speaking recently at a subcommittee hearing into the legal rights of Gitmo detainees:
"A detention regime for terrorists whom we intend to detain until the end of hostilities should seek to weed out mistakes. But it must also be designed in a way that also protects our nation's legitimate interests. ... Releasing committed terrorists has already resulted in the deaths of allied soldiers and innocent civilians. ... The possibility of such result must always be kept in mind."
There are, for the record, about 275 people still under lock and key in Guantanamo.
Ping
like I said on a previous post... the Left killed her.
They all should have been dispatched in the field.
Wow, I wonder how long it will be before those suffering BDS will be blaming Bush.
wait, wait wait. Who made all the noise about Gitmo? Was it "washington," or was it New York, tell washington what noise to make?
Already happening at the DU.
I think this is a good argument not to let anyone out of Gitmo.
“A detention regime for terrorists whom we intend to detain until the end of hostilities..”
The end of hostilities could mean until the end of the world unless Islam is pulled up by its root and destroyed.
Who has final say in who gets released from Gitmo?
ping
Your headline’s wrong. Bhutto’s killer was the brother of the man freed from Gitmo.
and Mike Huckabee wants to CLOSE GITMO!!!!!!
Why read past the above nonsense in the first sentence.
The likes of Ramsey Clarke live on with virtue of conviction however.
Paging Mike Huckabee. Still want to close Gitmo?
They've found or arrested the assassin?
I thought he blew himself up?
Wow!
I hope we have learned a lesson.
No prisoners.
bump
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