Five Dangerous Taliban Commanders Freed Illegally From Gitmo

Over the weekend, the Obama Administration freed five extremely dangerous Taliban commanders it had been holding at Club Gitmo in exchange for captured U.S. soldier Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

 

While it's good that Bergdahl is headed home, the price was fairly high.All five of the Taliban commanders were labeled 'high risk' by the Pentagon.

Khair Ulla Said Wali Khairkhwa was interior minister during the Taliban's rule and Taliban governor of Herat province. He was directly linked to both Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda's now-deceased head in Iraq, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, as well as being described as one of the "major opium drug lords in western Afghanistan"

Mullah Mohammad Fazl was a major military commander for the Taliban back when they were fighting the U.S. backed Northern Alliance, and was the military 'chief of staff' for the Taliban regime. He was also charged by the UN with the massacre of thousands of Afghan Shiites under Taliban rule And was also linked to several Islamist groups, including al Qaeda. Our military considered Fazl to have what's described as 'high intelligence value'.

Mullah Norullah Noori was another Taliban governor, likewise considered to have high intelligence value.

Abdul Haq Wasiq was the second in command of the Taliban's intelligence service. His cousin was head of the service. There's some evidence that Wasiq also shared intel with al Qaeda and other Islamist groups, which is fairly likely considering that al-Qaeda was headquartered in Afghanistan then.

Mohammad Nabi Omari was a Taliban official in Khost province who has been linked with al-Qaeda and other jihadi groups.He was also the Taliban's chief of communications and helped al Qaeda members escape from Afghanistan to Pakistan.

There's no question that we will see these men in action against us again.And there will likely be other consequences.

“Trading five senior Taliban leaders from detention in Guantanamo Bay for Bergdahl’s release may have consequences for the rest of our forces and all Americans. Our terrorist adversaries now have a strong incentive to capture Americans. That incentive will put our forces in Afghanistan and around the world at even greater risk,” House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard P. McKeon (R-Calif.) and the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, James M. Inhofe (Okla.), said in a joint statement.

They're certainly correct about that.

There's also the little matter of the Obama Administration once again breaking the law, which requires that the Secretary of Defense notify the relevant congressional committees at least 30 days before making any transfers of prisoners, to explain the reason for the transfer and to provide assurances that the prisoners released are not going to return to terrorist activities against the United States. At this point, the majority of them have, and these five certainly will.

The Obama Administration is claiming they acted quickly to save Bergdahl's life and there simply was no time to notify Congress. I'd like accept that there was some kind of sudden urgency, but the fact he had already been in captivity for almost five years makes that unlikely...and so does the Obama Administration's constant activity to close down Club Gitmo by any means necessary and dump the 'guests' wherever possible. After all it certainly wouldn't be the first time the Regime has lied to Congress!

 


Bergdahl's case was always a fairly strange one anyway. Apparently he went AWOL, left his post (his story about 'lagging behind on patrol' is a pretty obvious fabrication) and was captured without either weapons or body armor:

The actual story might be hinted by the report of him walking off the base with some Afghans.No telling who they were, but if this is true they were likely interpreters or base workers who spoke some English, and they may have promised Bergdahl something - sex or drugs or both seem to be the most likely lures.

If he went with them willingly, they were people he knew and trusted. They likely sold him to the Taliban en route or more likely, after they had given him what they promised him and he was relaxing - which could also account for the Taliban account of him being intoxicated when they got their hands on him.

 

At any rate, the deal is done and so is the damage, and Bergdahl is headed back home.

Freed Gitmo Detainee Killed Fighting For Syrian Islamists

 

Now, this is embarrassing. At least it ought to be.

Just when President Obama and his minions are working so hard to convince us how 'moderate' and worthy of U.S. arms and support his Islamist friends are, this shows up like an ant at a picnic.

The Syrian Islamic Movement posted a video on YouTube showing the body of Mohammed al Alami, who the video identified as a veteran of the jihad in Afghanistan “who went through hardship for the sake of God in the prison of the Americans in Guantánamo for five years.”

('Hardship'? No appreciation for all those halal meals and taxpayer provided prayer rugs and Qur'ans, I guess)

Alami was a Gitmo detainee who admitted attending an al-Qaeda training camp but was one of the 500 or so who was released during the Bush Administration instead of being hung - and of course, like most of the others he went right back to the jihad.The records show that the U.S. Army general in charge of Gitmo at the time advised against releasing Alami. But what was an expert, on the scene opinion worth next to winning the hearts and minds of the Muslim world? Besides, Alami and th e500 or so others who were kicked loose gave up their word they were through with jihad. They pinky promised!

President Obama has made the same mistake President Bush did, but on steroids, not only angering jihadis but our long time allies in the region as well.

 A lot of  the freed Gitmo jihadis have rejoined their  terrorist pals after getting a get out of jail free card from the Bush and Obama Administrations.. . and gone right back to wage to “the jihad” after leaving custody.

We still have around 164 'guests' at Club Gitmo, including such luminaries as  9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) and USS Cole bomber Bad al-Rahim al-Nassir. But rest assured that the Obama Administration is working hard to free them. Every  since Gitmo became the tropical resort of choice for vacationing jihadis,  there have been military commissions who look at the jihadis in the guest quarters and make decisions on whether to keep them locked up or not. Attending those hearings used to be open to all interested groups, but according to Judicial Watch, the rules have changed this year per President Obama's direct orders.

From now on, only Leftist advocacy groups  Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Human Rights First, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the American Bar Association will be allowed access.

All of them, at one time or another, all of these groups have openly advocated for the Gitmo detainees' freedom  as pro bono  legal counsel or as political advocates.

Expect most of them to be able to return to their careers of waging jihad against Americans very soon.

Obama Begins 'Negotiating' US Surrender To The Taliban

The US has confirmed statements by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid that peace talks will begin between the US negotiators and a Taliban delegation in Doha, Qatar on terms for ending the war in Afghanistan and a U.S. withdrawal.

The talks have been authorized by the Taliban's leader Mohammad Omar.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government is being excluded from the talks, but he's insisting that his High Peace Council will follow up with its own talks a few days later,provided his preconditions are met. The preconditions?

“The conditions are: The talks, having begun in Qatar, must immediately move to Afghanistan,” Karzai said. “Second, the talks must bring about an end of the violence in Afghanistan, and third, the talks should not become a tool for any third-party country” to pursue its own interests in Afghanistan.

Since the Taliban are pretty open about calling Karzai 'a U.S. stooge' and refusing to deal with him, we'll see how that ends up.

The only U.S. conditions are almost exactly what I predicted when I first wrote about the U.S. working with Qatar to open a Taliban office six months ago:

Essentially, the scenario will likely go something like this. In exchange for releasing captured terrorists from Gitmo into Taliban custody, recognizing the Taliban as legitimate political rulers in Afghanistan plus a suitable baksheesh in the form of some more aid money, we will be allowed to retreat more or less gracefully and Mullah Omar and the Taliban will mouth some platitudes about disengaging from al-Qaeda.

Or to quote the New Speak spouted by the Obama Administration, two statements 'opposing international terrorism launched from Afghan soil and supporting the peace process:'

In addition to agreeing to meet with Afghans, the statement issued by Mujahid said “the Islamic Emirate does not want to inflict harm to other countries from its soil” and wants “good relations” with all countries. It said Taliban objectives for the office included “to support a political and peaceful solution.”

A U.S. official said the statement fulfilled the requirements. The Taliban also repeated its demand for an end to the foreign “occupation” of Afghanistan and its goal of establishing “an independent Islamic system” there.

Keep in mind that people like the Taliban don't regard the activities of people like Hamas, al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba or Hezbollah to be terrorism in the slightest. And at any rate, any agreements made with an infidel are meaningless anyway as far as the Taliban is concerned.

And that wonderful Islamic system? Pure 7th century, especially when dealing with uppity women:

 





















Yes, the Taliban want to be back in power, want all foreign troops out of the country and want all of their detainees released. They will undoubtedly get everything they want and more.

Those detainees include about 60 prisoners the United States still holds in Afghanistan and five being held at Guantanamo Bay. Most of the rest of the Taliban killers with American blood on their hands were already turned over to the Afghan government by the Obama Administration, so the remainder include some real hard cases.

We might even see a couple of celebrity detainees like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed go free as well, perhaps being turned over to Qatari custody for awhile before being quietly released. The Qataris, who have acted as the Taliban's lawyer throughout the negotiations are a likely choice for role of halfway house in these situations.

Karzai and other members of the Afghan elite who've grown wealthy during our occupation will leave once the Taliban takes over. President Obama never liked him anyway - he was 'Bush's man' - and once President Obama failed in a clumsy attempt to muscle him out of power when he first took over, he ceased working with us or trusting us.

Those Afghan security forces we spent billions to equip and train? Some of the officers, especially the more high ranking ones who were in a position to steal and put a little bit away will likewise leave. The rest will serve Afghanistan's new masters. Like the other Muslim armies we built in Iraq and 'Palestine', the Afghan forces would happily turn those shiny new M-16s we gave them on us if the occasion arose.

This is how Obama's War ends, the Good War, the one he accused President Bush of 'dropping the ball on', the one Obama in his arrogance insisted he was going to win after his overblown campaign rhetoric.

Instead, after a dysfunctional adventure that saw us doubling down on the original folly with no clear goals and with Rules of Engagements that handcuffed our warriors and put them in harm's way to no purpose, we're bugging out. Again, from the original piece I wrote last January:

In Afghanistan, as in Iraq, we have emboldened our enemies, spent blood and treasure and accomplished nothing of real permanence, although it pains me to say it because I have a very real knowledge of the sacrifices involved.

Instead of handling AfPak the way it should have been handled from the very beginning, we blundered in without any clear strategic goals or direction. Once our enemies and for that matter, those whom were willing to be our friends realized our leaders had no idea what they were doing and weren't serious about real victory, the rest was merely a matter of time.

This is a national disgrace unworthy of the sacrifices of the brave men and women we sent there.

Sgt. Ist Class Speers' Killer Leaves Gitmo

Sergeant Ist Class(SFC) Christopher Speers was an Army medic who was killed in a firefight in Khost Province, Afghanistan when a hand grenade was thrown at him by one Omar Khadr, a fifteeen-year-old Canadian jihadi of Egyptian background.

Ironically, Khadr's life was only saved because SFC Speers' fellow medics treated him.

Khadr, whose father was a top al-Qaeda figure was sent to Guantamano, where aside from providing a fair amount of valuable intelligence  he confessed to killing Speer among other crimes. After Khadr  pleaded guilty to murder, attempted murder, providing material support for terrorism, spying and conspiracy, he was sentenced to - wait for it - eight years, with no credit for time served.

Eight years.

As part of the Obama Administration's drive to close Guantamano no matter what, Khadr is now being transferred to his country of citizenship, Canada, where he will serve the rest of his sentence at Millhaven Prison in Bath, Ontario, about 130 miles east of Toronto.

Unlike a number of countries I could mention, the Canadians can be trusted to keep Khadr in jail , at least until his sentence is up in spite of the usual leftist agitation. After he's freed, he'll probably be released and go back to fighting the jihad against the very people who showed him mercy.

On the other hand, SFC Speers and his loved ones received  a life sentence with no chance of parole at the hands of Omar Khadr.

Remember this when you wonder, 'why don't the Muslims respect us?'

Obama's New Gambit - Releasing One Third Of The Guantamano Inmates

President Obama has another big idea. He's going to release 55 Gitmo inmates, one third of the total inmate population.

The timing, some might say is just a little bit awkward, since it's come to light that a former Gitmo detainee who was released under similar circumstances, Sufyan Ben Qumu, led the attack on our Libyan consulate and the supposed safe house that saw our Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other American murdered in horrendous circumstances.

Most of the inmates being released are said to be Yemini. Based on the usual percentage of released recidivists who go back to waging jihad against America, there are probably at least 25 to 30 of these people we will face again as jihadis.

The Obama Administration has released a lot of Gitmo detainees, sometimes with unforeseen results that  almost border on the comic because of the amateurism involved. But this is the largest single mass release, and the first time the Obama Administration has ever released a public list of jihadis they're cutting loose. According to the Obama Department of Justice:

"In the over two years since the [Guantanamo Bay Review] Task Force completed its status reviews, circumstances have changed such that the decisions by the Task Force approving detainees for transfer no longer warrant protection," the DOJ lawyers wrote in their notice to the court.

 "The efforts of the United States to resettle Guantanamo detainees have largely been successful – they have resulted in 40 detainees being resettled in third countries because of treatment or other concerns in their countries of origin since 2009. In addition, 28 detainees have been repatriated to their countries of origin since 2009.

In other words,the DOJ is damned proud of its efforts in freeing jihadis to fight again. I'm sure our intel people and the men and women in uniform who have to call President Obama commander-in-chief are just thrilled.

9/11 Mastermind KSM's Trial To Be Held At Club Gitmo Using Military Tribunal After All!

I can barely suppress a giggle over this one...after all the fatuous hot air that was generated by President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder about how the Bush-style military tribunals were evil and illegal and about how they were going to prosecute 9/11 plotter Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a civilian show trial in New York City, guess what?

They've retreated - again. And Attorney General Eric Holder threw a juvenile hissy fit in rage at it all, claiming that he was left without any choice and has referred the cases to the Defense Department for trial.

Holder blamed Congress for blocking any detainees from being tried in the U.S., saying that the "unwise and unwarranted restrictions" undermine the U.S. in counter-intelligence and counter-terror efforts.

"Do I know better than them? Yes. I respect their ability to disagree but they should respect that this is an executive branch function, a unique executive branch function," Holder said in his press conference.

Even funnier, new White House spokesmouth Jay Carney, said emphatically that the decision remained with Holder.

"The president's primary concern here is that the perpetrators ... of that terrible attack on the American people be brought to justice as swiftly as possible and as fairly as possible," Carney said before Holder's remarks.

Ri-ight.That's why Holder and Obama halted the military tribunal on KSM that was already in process...to play politics for all these months.

Amateur hour. On steroids.

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*Snicker* President Obama Signs Order Resuming Gitmo Tribunals

Yes indeed. When Mr. Hope n' Change was on the campaign trail, he swore he was going to shut down our tropical resort for jihadis at Club Gitmo...and he really hoped he could. But he changed!

President Obama signed an order today to resume military trials at Club Gitmo. In a press release today, Obama said that this new policy will “broaden our ability to bring terrorists to justice, provide oversight for our actions, and ensure the humane treatment of detainees.”

Which of course is 180 degrees from what he was saying before, if you remember.

Back in 2009, Obama lectured us that “the existence of Guantanamo likely created more terrorists around the world than it ever detained.” And in a May 2009 speech, the president dismissed the opposition to closing the prison as partisan politics designed to create a “climate of fear”...you know, something those evil Republicans were getting all wee weed up about.

Now, after all that nonsense, President Obama has, umm, reconsidered. And it looks like former President Bush, Dick Cheney and John Yoo knew what they were talking about after all, while Obama was just blowing unicorn smoke rings. And now, he finally has to admit he had no clue about what he was talking about.

Embarrassing, to say the least.

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Those Gitmo Detainees We Released? 1 In 4 Returned To The Jihad

As the Wikileaks cables reveal, the Obama Administration did some major wheeling and dealing to get the detainees we had under lock and key in Guantanamo released from Club Gitmo,our tropical resort for jihadis.

Unfortunately, it seems that a lot of the released jihadis decided to go back to their old pastime.

As Thomas Jocelyn in the Weekly Standard reports, according to a new intelligence assessment released by the Director of National Intelligence’s office, 1 in 4, or 25% of the 598 detainees released from Gitmo are recidivists and are now considered either “confirmed or suspected of reengaging in terrorist or insurgent activities.”

According to the DNI, former detainees who have spread anti-American and jihadi propaganda but engaged in no other terrorist activity aren't included in either the suspected or confirmed categories

Back in February 2010, President Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, confirmed that the estimated number of recidivists had increased to 20 percent, a percentage Brennan claimed was 'pretty good'- with a straight face.

That 25% recidivism is double the number reported by the DoD in April in 2009, and should tell us three things - that 'catch and release' for jihadis is a really bad idea, that the Obama Administration stance on Islamist terrorism -excuse me,man made disasters - is not convincing a substantial percentage of the released detainees to forsake jihad, and that Club Gitmo isn't going to close anytime soon.

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