It’s a strategy so subtle – so brilliant – that most Americans simply don’t get it.
Because the idea that releasing terrorists could be part of an anti-terrorism strategy seems counterintuitive at best and incredibly and dangerously stupid at worst, some may think Obama’s plan is incredibly idiotic.
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But it’s not, he assures us. It’s all part of a big plan to make America safer. Or something.
Pres. Obama says he's working to reduce population at Guantanamo as part of counterterrorism strategy. pic.twitter.com/9VADNkDupJ
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) December 18, 2015
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So how’s that strategy going? Let’s review.
Of the near-800 people who have passed through the doors of the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility, almost as many have subsequently been released. Only 107 remain.
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Three years ago, the Director of National Intelligence admitted that almost one in three suspects released from Gitmo have returned to a life of terrorism.
So of the 668 who were released as part of Barack Obama’s “anti-terrorism strategy,” here’s a list of those who actually have returned to a life of terrorism. This list is not complete – in fact, it’s probably double. It only includes former prisoners we know have gone back to a life of terrorism that I could access.
- Abdullah Mahsud
- Maulvi Abdul Ghaffar
- Mohamed Yusif Yaqub
- Abdul Rahman Noor
- Mohammed Nayim Farouq
- Mohammed Ismail
- Said Mohammed Alim Shah
- Ravil Shafeyavich Gumarov
- Khaatamul Anbiya bin Daleel ul Khyayraat aka “Donkey Master”
- Abdallah Saleh Ali Al Ajmi
- Mohammed Mizouz
- Ibrahim Shafir Sen
- Shai Jahn Ghafoor
- Mohammed Yusif Yaqub
- Ibrahim Bin Shakaran
- Mohammed Nayim Farouq
- Timur Ravilich Ishmurat
- Mohammed Ismail
- Abdullah Mehsud
- Ravil Shafeyavich Gumarov
- Khaatamul Anbiya bin Daleel ul Khyayraataka “Donkey Master”
- Mohammed Bin Ahmad Mizouz
- Ibrahim Shafir Sen
- Mohammed Yusif Yaqub
- aka
- MullahShahzada
- Ibrahim Bin Shakaran
- Mohammed Ismail
- Abdul Rahman Noor
- Mohammed Nayim Farouq
- Mohammed Ismail Agha
- MaulviAbdul Ghaffar AKA Shai Jahn Ghafoor
- Abdullah Gulam Rasoul
- Isa Khan
- Majeed Abdullah al Joudi
- Abd al Razaq Abdallah Hamid Ibrahim al Sharikh
- Rasul Kudayev
- Said Mohammed Alim Shah
- aka Abdullah Mehsud
- Mazin Salih Musaid al Awfi
- Abdullah al Noaimi
- Ravil Shafeyavich Gumarov
- Almasm Rabilavich Sharipov
- Ruslan Odijev
- Humud Dakhil Humud Said al Jadan
- Abdulhadi Abdallah Ibrahim al Sharakh
- Mohammed bin Ahmad Mizouz
- Muhammad al Awfi
- Said Ali al Shihri
- Muhibullah
- Saad Madi Saad al Azmi
- Ibrahim bin Shakaran
- Timur Ravilich Ishmurat
- Haji Sahib Rohullah Wakil
- Nahir Shah
- Sabi Janh Abdul Ghafour also
- Maulvi Abdul Ghaffar
- Shah Mohammed
- Yousef Muhammed Yaaqoub also known as Mullah Shahzada
- Mohammed Nayim Farouq
- Ibrahim Shafir Sen
- Mohammed Ismail
- Abdullah D. Kafkas
- Almasm Rabilavich Sharipov
- Timur Ravilich Ishmurat
- Ruslan Anatolivich Odijev
- Said Mohammad Alim Shah also known as
- Abdullah Mahsud
- Ravil Gumarov
- Abdullah Ghofoor
- Mohammed Bin Ahmad Mizouz
- Ibrahim Bin Shakaran
- Isa Khan
- Muhibullah
- Abdallah Saleh Ali al-Ajmi
- Abdullah Majid Al-Naimi
- Saad Madhi Saad Hawash al Azmi
- Majid Abdullah Lahiq al Joudi
- Mazin Salih Musaid al-Alawi al-Awfi also known as
- Abu al-Hareth Muhammad al-Awfi
- Abd al Razzaq Abdallah Ibrahim al-Sharikh
- Abd al Hadi Abdallah Ibrahim al Sharikh
- Zahir Shah
- Abu Sufyan al Azdi al-Shihri
- Abdullah Gulam Rasoul
- Hajji Sahib Rohullah Wakil
This is Obama’s strategy, release terrorists who we know will return to planning and staging attacks on the world, on Europe, on us.
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Clearly, it’s a strategy too nuanced for ignorant Republicans – and the rest of America, for that matter, to comprehend.