Free Republic

In his Loyal Opposition blog, New York Times ed page editor Andrew Rosenthal goes after the Justice Department’s decision to prosecute former CIA officer, former Democratic Senate staffer and Huffington Post blogger John Kiriakou for leaking classified information — including the names of CIA operatives — to journalists. Rosenthal writes, That may seem simple: CIA officer, classified information disclosed, prison. But take a closer look. He’s been charged with revealing that two men accused of organizing the Sept. 11 attacks, Abu Zubaydah and Khalid Sheikh Mohamed, were tortured. So the man who blew the whistle on torture may go to...

A South American airline issued a memo to its employees Monday to be on the lookout for a former Guantanamo Bay detainee who was resettled in Uruguay after being freed by the U.S. and has since vanished. *snip* The alert about Syrian native Abu Wa’el Dhiab adds to a growing mystery about his whereabouts. The Uruguayan authorities have insisted for weeks that he’s visiting neighboring Brazil and that as a refugee he is entitled to leave Uruguay. However, Brazilian authorities have said there is no record of Dhiab entering the country.

With the summer Olympics just a few weeks away in Brazil, a veteran Al Qaeda operative released from Guantanamo to Uruguay has gone missing and authorities in Latin America believe he sneaked into Brazil after being denied legal entry. The Islamic terrorist’s name is Jihad Ahmad Diyab an in late 2014 President Obama sent him to Uruguay along with five fellow Gitmo inmates as part of a misguided plan to shut down the U.S. military prison at the Naval base in southeast Cuba. Now officials from Uruguay, Brazil and the United States are scrambling to find Diyab, according to news...

While the bulk of media coverage was distracted on Wednesday focused on the toddler-like antics of Democrat lawmakers doing a "sit-in" for gun control. Obama was up to his old tricks and sneaking something through on the back side while everyone was distracted. The president apparently released YET ANOTHER dangerous terrorist from Guantanamo Bay.

A lawyer who came to prominence for his full-throated defense of a subsequently convicted terrorist was quietly promoted to the No. 3 slot at the Department of Justice last month, a post that puts him in charge of the administration’s policy regarding Guantanamo Bay detainees.

The Obama administration is emptying the military’s Guantanamo Bay detention facility of avowed terrorists captured fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, but several American service members languish in another military prison for actions on those same battlefields that their supporters say merit clemency, if not gratitude. Among the prison population at Fort Leavenworth, in Kansas, are remaining members of the so-called “Leavenworth 10,” convicted service members doing terms ranging from 10 to 40 years for heat-of-the-battle decisions their supporters say saved American lives. “The very people who protect our freedoms and liberties are having their own freedoms and liberties taken away,”...

The Obama administration is preparing to transfer up to 24 additional detainees out of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp this summer, Fox News has learned.

The Obama administration is secretly preparing to transfer up to 24 prisoners out of the U.S. military detention center Guantánamo Bay in Cuba by the end of the summer, the Guardian and Fox News report, citing unnamed sources. As the first news outlet to shed light on the plans, The Guardian notes that the transfer to multiple countries is expected to occur by the end of July. Currently, there are 80 prisoners detained at the Guantánamo facility, down from the 242 when President Barack Obama took office.

Full title: Ret. Navy Commander: Gitmo Has Not Led to Terror Recruiting Anymore Than a Movie Caused Benghazi Attack Commander Kirk Lippold, retired from the U.S. Navy, testified in front of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Tuesday, insisting that Guantanamo Bay remain open for business. “Keeping Guantanamo open is more important now than ever,” Lippold warned. The terror detention facility, which has held almost 800 terrorist detainees since 2002 and today holds only 80, has been targeted for closure by President Obama, who argues the prison is “contrary to our values.” Other social activists have demanded the...

An explosive allegation about destroyed evidence threatens to unravel the already shaky military tribunal for the alleged architect of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Attorneys for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed are calling on the judge and the entire prosecution team in Mohammed’s military commission at Guantánamo Bay to step down from the long-running case over what a member of the defense team called “at least the appearance of collusion” that led to the government apparently secretly destroying information relevant to the premier post-9/11 tribunal. The defense team further argues that the destruction of evidence ought to spell the end of Mohammed’s military...

To all of you patriotic Americans out there who have supported our efforts to see our Sons in Leavenworth returned to their families, please read the email below from attorney Colby Vokey, LT COL USMC (Ret). Colby lays out all the reasons we have expressed over the years regarding the imprisonment of our Sons in Leavenworth. I will spare you all my rage as you have heard it over and over again for what seems like a lifetime. Rather, I will quote Colby: "What matters is that it's time to bring our warriors all the way home." Please sign the...

The man at the helm of the USS Cole when it was attacked by an Al Qaeda cell in 2000 said last month's release of a Guantanamo Bay detainee linked to the bombers denies justice to the 17 people killed aboard the ship. Kirk Lippold, who was commanding officer of the U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer when suicide bombers aboard a small fishing boat blew a hole in the side of the ship, told FoxNews.com Mashur Abdallah Ahmed al Sabri's release was a mistake. "I would have liked to have seen him receive a military commission where he was tried,...

President Obama is desperate to empty the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay before the end of his presidency. In fact, he’s so desperate he’s decided to hand over 9 prisoners to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia even in the midst of several media reports suggesting the Saudis were either complicit or possibly even involved in the 9/11 terror attacks.More on the 9/11 angle in a moment. First, the details on the nine detainees.According to the Washington Post, they’re all Yemeni and include one Tariq Ba Odah, a detainee since 2002 who has gained media attention recently for a hunger...

Uruguay's former president says the conduct of six former Guantanamo Bay detainees resettled in the South American nation has been "abysmal" and has hurt efforts to resettle others. Former President Jose Mujica, who oversaw the resettlement in late 2014, made the comments Tuesday to La Republica newspaper. Mujica, now a senator, says the men's behavior discouraged other Latin American countries that were considering taking in former detainees. He didn't provide details. "Who did the men hurt? Other Guantanamo prisoners."

The American government has released two prisoners from Guantanamo Bay, the high profile anti-terrorism prison in Cuba, the Defense Department confirmed on Monday. The two Libyans, formerly explosives experts for al-Qaeda, were transferred to Senegal. Salem Abdu Salam Ghereby is thought to have fought in Afghanistan against coalition forces at Usama bin Laden’s Tora Bora “and was associated with senior members of al-Qaeda.” In 2008, Omar Khalif Mohammed Abu Baker Mahjour Umar was judged likely to “immediately seek out prior associates and reengage in hostilities and extremist support activities.” …

MOSCOW — Donald J. Trump, the leading Republican presidential candidate, was widely condemned when he called for the United States to “take out the families” of terrorists. His approach — even after he clarified that he was not talking about killing the relatives — was dismissed by many as immoral and unlawful. Yet, it is the very tactic that Russia has pursued for decades. It is the signature, though officially unacknowledged, policy behind Moscow’s counterinsurgency and counterterrorism strategies, and Russia’s actions in smashing a Muslim separatist rebellion in the Caucasus provide a laboratory for testing Mr. Trump’s ideas. The family...

Americans have been killed by prisoners released from the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a senior Defense Department official told lawmakers Wednesday, triggering sharp criticism from Republicans opposed to shuttering the facility in the wake of deadly attacks by the Islamic State group in Brussels and Paris. Paul Lewis, the Pentagon's special envoy for Guantanamo detention closure, declined to provide the GOP-led House Foreign Affairs Committee with details. He would not say whether the incidents occurred before or after President Barack Obama took office in January 2009.

Closing the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay and releasing most of its detainees, Barack Obama argues, will make Americans safer. Just how has that worked out so far? Even the man in charge of Obama’s project at the Department of Defense admitted today that released Gitmo detainees have murdered Americans.And yet, Paul Lewis argues, the project continues: Testifying before the GOP-led House Foreign Affairs Committee, Paul Lewis, the Defense Department’s special envoy for the closure of the detention center, declined to provide details and did not say whether the incidents occurred before or after President Barack Obama took office...

Note: This could be a post I'll be referencing in the future — not just a thought for the day. I could be making changes periodically. Apologies in advance for the length.A guest of Bill Maher recently complained of Guantanamo, “people have not been charged, or tried, and what happened to rule of law? That’s the whole principle of the Constitution.” She apparently has been lied to, and it's about time we clear this up. We see a lot of articles about Guantanamo detainees being “released without charge” or “never charged with a crime.” They want us to believe we'd...

As President Obama gears up for his presidential visit to Cuba this weekend – the first in 80 years – scientists are pondering the future of Guantánamo Bay Naval Base. One idea proposed is the creation of a transnational conservation area, or peace park.