Obama has released another nine detainees from Guantanamo Bay. These detainees were Osama Bin Laden’s bodyguards and are being released to Saudi Arabia.
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The releasing is due to continued lobbying by hire power contacts in Saudi Arabia.
American Military News Advisory Board members former Pentagon spokesperson and retired Navy Commander J.D. Gordon and Fox News Contributor and Iraq and Afghanistan Veteran Pete Hegseth were on Fox News to weigh in on what this means for the future of Guantanamo Bay and national security.
The nine men released are former bodyguards for Osama Bin Laden that were captured when the Taliban fell. It’s likely that they will return to their life of terror. Approximately 1/3rd of Guantanamo detainees return to terrorism.
Saudi Arabia sponsors a “reintegration program” where former detainees are provided with wives and art classes in an effort to stabilize their lives. This program is largely unsuccessful and there is continued evidence that participants have returned to their old ways after completing the course. The course does little to provide assurance that these men will see the error of their ways and does even less to prevent them from re-engaging in terrorism.
One notable figure, Saifulla Paracha was not released. Paracha is also a former henchman for Osama Bin laden. The 68-year-old was deemed too dangerous to be released to Saudi Arabia with the other nine men. Paracha remaining in detention raises several questions one of which is, “What separates Paracha from the other nine men that were released?”
The answer is simple. No one is lobbying for Paracha to be released. The nine men released have high powered contacts in Saudi Arabia who are actively working for their release.
It seems that the release of these nine men is an “olive branch” being offered by Obama to terrorist organizations in the hopes that it will improve relations in the middle east and quell terrorist attacks against the United States.
This approach is not only foolish, it is ineffective. The gesture makes the United States appear weak to its enemies and may have the unintended consequences. When the United States is perceived as weak it is more likely to be attacked by fundamentalists and foreign nations and also create more and more demands from rogue actors.
This release is coming on the heels of Obama’s visit to Cuba. During that visit Obama can be seen posing in front of a large mural of Che Guevara. There is an interesting parallel between Guevara and the current detainees of Guantanamo Bay. Guevara is hailed as a hero by liberals for standing up to imperialism, rather than the reality of the murderer and criminal that he actually was.
It is perceived by many that the political left sees many similarities as detainees of Guantanamo as modern day reincarnations of Che Guevara, which explains their sympathy towards the detainees that have committed these crimes against humanity in the name of terror.
Do you think Obama is overstepping his bounds by releasing these terrorists? Sound off in the comment section below!
