How do you think this decision will affect other detainees being held under similar circumstances?
Sorry...I can't give a real opinion as I'm not a lawyer and "haven't even played one on television". I was just being "snippy" in pointing out that the judge was a Clinton appointee.
But...once somebody like this has been picked up and it's a matter of public record, especially if their face is splashed around by the media, I suspect that their use as a terrorist operative probably goes about to zero. Partly because they must presume that their every step and every word they speak is being monitored after they are released. (I'm not in law enforcement either...so that's just my naive guess.)
The INS issued new docs to at least two of the hijackers, Mohammed Atta and another, after they were dead. Mohammed Atta's name is infamous. Still, he gets through the cracks.
I have no confidence in the governments ability to keep track of someone who doesn't want to be kept track of. The FBI and other law enforcement agencies are barely able to do it, when they are focused.