Gitmo Fate Mired In Fuzzy Math (Right/Military are lying about Guantanamo recidivism)

CBS.com ^ | Jan. 26, 2009 | Andrew Cohen

[presidio9]

If the White House and Pentagon are going to make wise decisions about what to do with the Guantanamo Bay detainees they are going to need accurate information upon which to base their new policies.

Yet the single most cited “fact” last week about the terror suspects - that 61 of the men released from Gitmo have returned to fight against us - is simply not true. The number is far lower than that. And the longer “61” is used as a “talking point” by critics of the administration of President No. 44 the longer it will be before a viable solution is found.

The figure comes from a Pentagon press conference on January 13th - just a week before the end of the Bush Administration - in which a Defense Department spokesman declared: “The new numbers [for recidivists] are, we believe, 18 confirmed and 43 suspected of returning to the fight. So 61 in all former Guantanamo detainees are confirmed or suspected of returning to the fight.” Many news organizations did the math - 18 plus 43 equals 61 -but negligently failed to include the important qualifier “suspected” for the “43” figure. Moreover, there is reason to doubt the accuracy of even the “18” figure the Pentagon seems more sure about.

Republican lawmakers immediately jumped on this sloppy math/reporting to bolster their argument that the White House is jeopardizing national security even by thinking about releasing more Gitmo prisoners. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) repeated the number over and over again. “Do we bring them into our borders,” Rep. Boehner asked. “Do we release them back into the battlefield, like some 61 detainees that have been released we know are back on the battlefield? And do we release them to get back

[presidio9]

To people like Cohen, it appears, the only way to make a point here is with proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Once again spreading out the Constitution over heads it was never meant to protect. Too bad he fails to use the same guidlines of proof to make his own argument. As a matter of fact, I'm not even sure what his argument his some of the time. Like when he suggests that the "18" may be totally innocent, but then offers no justification. At this rate, and by this logic" the only way that any of us will ever know one way or the other will be when we wake up one morning and the US or Israel has one less city, and Obama is on camera tell us that our intelligence services let us down. On of the main purposes of Guantanamo is intelligence.

[massgopguy]

Confirmed = Killed and Identified. Please, let us confirm the other 43 and send their gonads to Mr. Cohen as proof.

[kingu]

What we need to do is have the military come out with a Global Warming Action Plan, and have all the Republicans support it, then CBS might actually look at the numbers there...

[a fool in paradise]

Yet the single most cited “fact” last week about the terror suspects - that 61 of the men released from Gitmo have returned to fight against us - is simply not true. The number is far lower than that. And the longer “61” is used as a “talking point” by critics of the administration of President No. 44 the longer it will be before a viable solution is found.

I don't recall the Viacommies at SeeBS News taking this same "fact breakdown" with regards to the forged National Guard Memos, showing viewers just how such a hoax could be perpertrated using MS Word.

[an amused spectator]

This would be the same Andrew Cohen who published a hitpiece on Sarah Palin three days before the election in November:

Democracy Demands Wisdom

Andrew Cohen works for Barack Obama. It's that simple.

[a fool in paradise]

I’ve seen a number of articles over the years with names etc of those encountered again in the battlefield.

“18 confirmed”

Sounds like it was much more than 18 to me.

[a fool in paradise]

How many of those “confirmed” blew themselves up in subsequent suicide attacks?

[an amused spectator]

Now that we've established that Andrew Cohen is working for the White House, let's re-title the "news" piece:

Democrat Claims Right/Military Lying About Gitmo Recidivism

[Gondring]

encountered again in the battlefield.

You do realize that the Bush Administration included complaining about America as "encountered again," right?

What moral high ground do we have, if we're trying to tell Iraq and Afghanistan that our American system is so great while we can't even be straight on things (not to mention following our own laws)?

[a fool in paradise]

Put a sock in it. you know what they mean.

http://counterterrorismblog.org/2009/01/nefa_foundation_video_of_forme.php

NEFA Foundation: Video of Former Gitmo Detainee-Turned-Al-Qaida Suicide Bomber in Iraq

[a fool in paradise]

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/024535.php

Former Gitmo detainee now among top dogs in Al-Qaeda in Yemen

That’s 2. Only need to find 16 more.

[Tallguy]

Many news organizations did the math - 18 plus 43 equals 61 -but negligently failed to include the important qualifier “suspected” for the “43” figure.

Make you a deal CBS.com: I'll accept your qualified number if you'll stop blindly reporting "massaged numbers" when it benefits liberal pet projects like Gun Control & Abortion. OK?

[mewzilla]

I’ve got news for the left: All it takes is one.

[muawiyah]

Andrew Cohen sounds like an AlQaida sleeper agent.

[muawiyah]

None of those guys should have been released. Instead, virtually all of them should have been handed over to Virginia for prosecution in regards to the AlQaida attack on the Pentagon.

Here in Northern Virginia we have a good track record about sending killers to the gurneys.

[MrB]

Uh... 18 confirmed, eh?

It took only 19 to kill 3000 civilians on 9/11/01.

[an amused spectator]

Wonder if his workstation at CBS faces Mecca, for convenience? ;-)

[jwalsh07]

What moral high ground do we have, if we're trying to tell Iraq and Afghanistan that our American system is so great while we can't even be straight on things (not to mention following our own laws)?

And just what law has America broken vis a vis jihadists housed at Gitmo?

As an aside there is absolutely no space between you and the insane left on this statement.

[Billthedrill]

Yet the single most cited “fact” last week...is simply not true. The number is far lower than that.

Cohen states this as a fact but has no evidence whatever that it is the case. It is, in fact, an accusation. To liberals the two are the same thing when applied to conservatives.

[jwalsh07]

"By Allah, imprisonment only increased our persistence in our principles for which we went out, did jihad for, and were imprisoned for. And today here we are, O our Sheikh, Allah has blessed us with migration to the land of provision and jihad; the land of Yemen and faith, pledging allegiance to our brother, Abu Baseer Nasr al-Wahayshi, may Allah preserve him." Abu Sayfan, former guest at Club Gitmo

Perhaps you can rehab them Gondring. A man of great principle like yourself might even consider inviting a few into your home for intense rehab. What do you think?