Bad Decisions Have Bad Results

In October 2018 The Military Times reported the following:

Five members of the Afghan Taliban who were freed from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in exchange for captured American Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl have joined the insurgent group’s political office in Qatar, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Tuesday.Guantn

They will now be among Taliban representatives negotiating for peace in Afghanistan, a sign some negotiators in Kabul say indicates the Taliban’s desire for a peace pact.

Others fear the five, all of whom were close to the insurgent group’s founder and hard-line leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, bring with them the same ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam that characterized the group’s five-year rule that ended in 2001 with the U.S.-led invasion.

On Monday, The New York Post reported:

When President Barack Obama released five Taliban commanders from the Guantanamo Bay prison in exchange for an American deserter in 2014, he assured a wary public that the dangerous enemy combatants would be transferred to Qatar and kept from causing any trouble in Afghanistan.

In fact, they were left free to engineer Sunday’s sacking of Kabul.

Soon after gaining their freedom, some of the notorious Taliban Five pledged to return to fight Americans in Afghanistan and made contacts with active Taliban militants there. But the Obama-Biden administration turned a blind eye to the disturbing intelligence reports, and it wasn’t long before the freed detainees used Qatar as a base to form a regime in exile.

Eventually, they were recognized by Western diplomats as official representatives of the Taliban during recent “peace” talks.

…After raiding the presidential palace in Kabul, a group of armed Taliban fighters told Al Jazeera that they were arranging to bring back their Gitmo-paroled leadership from Qatar upon securing the capital. One unidentified fighter, who blasted America for “oppressing our people for 20 years,” claimed he had also been locked up at the Guantanamo Bay facility. It’s more evidence that Gitmo catch-and-release policies facilitated the fall of Afghanistan to the enemy that Washington vowed to crush after 9/11.

Leopards don’t really change their spots:

The mastermind of the regime change is former detainee Khairkhwa, the Taliban mullah whom Obama released from Gitmo even though the Pentagon classified him as too dangerous to release.

The article notes the behavior of the Taliban as they conquer Afghanistan:

Earlier this year, Khairkhwa assured the administration that the Taliban would not launch a spring military offensive if Biden committed to removing all remaining American troops. He also promised not to retaliate against any Afghans who worked with the US military or the US-backed government in Kabul. But Khairkhwa showed no signs of remorse or rehabilitation inside Gitmo — if anything, he’s probably more embittered toward the United States. Why would they believe him?

Reports coming out of Kandahar and Kabul indicate the extremists have already broken their word. Taliban thugs have started a reign of terror against people who cooperated with Westerners. Guided by a “kill list,” they are going door to door to punish their enemies.

The New York Post article concludes:

It’s not clear if then-Vice President Biden was fully on board with Obama’s controversial prisoner exchange. But in a reversal of Trump administration policy, Biden has restarted Obama’s program to release Gitmo detainees as part of a renewed push to close the prison.

Last month, the president released his first prisoner — accused terrorist Abdul Latif Nasser — leaving the number of remaining detainees at 39. Ten others have been cleared for release, while still others have appealed to Biden through their pro-bono defense lawyers to ensure their release, despite the risk of them returning to militant activities like the Taliban Five.

If Obama and Biden had left the five Taliban thugs to rot in Cuba, Kabul more than likely would not be back in the clutches of the Taliban right now. And maybe Americans wouldn’t have sacrificed more than 2,400 troops and $1 trillion in vain.

The Obama administration’s foreign policy decisions were not helpful to our nation. It looks as if the Biden administration has the same problem.

This Is Not Good News For Americans

Investor’s Business Daily posted a story yesterday about the recidivism rate of released Guantanamo detainees.

The article reports:

For the first time, the number of released Gitmo detainees who have re-engaged in terrorism has climbed above 30%, and the rate has been growing steadily under a president bent on emptying the entire prison.

In fact, terrorist recidivists released by the president doubled from six to 12 in the six months through January, according to data released Tuesday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. They include Guantanamo alumnus Hamed Abderrahaman Ahmed, who was arrested by Spanish authorities last month and charged with running a recruiting network for ISIS.

The total number of ex-Gitmo detainees rejoining the jihad has grown to 204, the intelligence report reveals. Almost two-thirds remain at large.

There is nothing to be gained by letting terrorist detainees out of Guantanamo so that they can kill American soldiers. There is also nothing to be gained by transferring terrorists to prisons on American soil. The fact that these men have to be kept in prison is unfortunate, but I can’t imagine a deprogramming system that would change their worldview. What we need to remember is that terrorists are trained as terrorists. Just as kindergarten children in Gaza are trained to be martyrs, terrorists are also trained early.

Below is a picture of a graduating kindergarten class in Gaza. It is from a previous article. It tells you all you need to know about when terrorist training begins. Until those in the Middle East who want to set up a caliphate stop teaching hate, we will not have peace and we will not be able to release any prisoners from Guantanamo without putting Americans at risk.

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It will take a miracle of God to accomplish the change of heart that is needed for us to release the prisoners at Guantanamo safely.