(Reuters: Joe Skipper )Washington Examiner: Is it likely Gitmo prisoners will return to the battlefield?
Among the key snags in President Obama's failed push to close the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is that Republicans believe the White House is downplaying the likelihood of prisoners joining terrorist groups after their release.
The White House and congressional Republicans have vastly different interpretations of recidivism rates of former Gitmo detainees, with conservatives insisting that many "return to the battlefield" and Obama calling those fears overblown.
Here are the hard numbers as recently provided by the Obama administration: Nearly 18 percent of former Guantanamo inmates have been confirmed of re-engaging in terrorism. Another 11 percent are suspected of returning to terrorist activity.
WNU Editor: The release of the Taliban 5 for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was the most disturbing of the lot .... one of them is wanted at The Hague at war crimes, and the other 3 have already been in communication with their former Taliban colleagues (apparently the fifth former prisoner has health issues). The debate on the closing of Guantanamo has always been political .... and with the 2016 elections just around the corner expect Democrats in troubled districts to influence the White House to scale back their plans on closing, and depending on who is the Presidential nominee .... expect influence from that corner. As to what is my take .... the cases for many of these detainees has been ongoing for far too long .... but as I had said before .... this entire affair has been more about politics than justice.
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