Guantanamo Bay detention facility has long been a burr in the side of Democrats, as has the use of enhanced interrogation techniques used on members of the terrorist group al Qaeda, who, if Democrats would care to recall, attacked the United States on 9.11.2001, killing almost 3,000 people, not too mention all those who have become sick and even died later from all the pollutants released. They really, really want it closed, and the Islamic jihadis sent off to rejoin the battlefield, to the extent of taking the side of the terrorists, as the NY Times Editorial Board shows
A Stark Reminder of Guantánamo’s Sins
It is haunting, maddening even, to revisit the facts of Abu Zubaydah’s time in American custody more than 14 years after he was detained in Pakistan in the frenzied period following the Sept. 11 attacks. Abu Zubaydah, the first prisoner known to have been waterboarded by the Central Intelligence Agency, loomed large in America’s imagination for years as the personification of evil.
On Tuesday, a small group of human rights advocates and journalists got a fleeting glimpse of Abu Zubaydah — the first since his detention — when he appeared before a panel of government officials to argue that he would not be a threat to the United States if he were released from the Guantánamo Bay prison in Cuba. The hearing, which civilians were allowed to watch part of from a live video feed, is an opportunity to reflect on the shameful tactics employed during years of national panic about terrorism and to reinvigorate efforts to close the prison.
Was waterboarding necessary? Perhaps. Perhaps not. But, it was in the backdrop of
And this
Images that Leftists would prefer not be remembered. The utter evil of al Qaeda and people like Abu Zubaydah
Years later, it became clear that Abu Zubaydah wasn’t a top figure in Al Qaeda after all. It also became clear that he had willingly provided insights into terrorist groups when he was interrogated by F.B.I. agents, who treated him cordially. By the time he was turned over to the C.I.A., his knowledge about threats to the United States appears to have been largely exhausted. Yet agency personnel insisted on the need for torture, waterboarding him at least 83 times and subjecting him to other cruelty.
The Times forgot to mention a few things. Abu was, in fact, a big shot al Qaeda member, involved in training, intelligence, and planning. The CIA and FBI under Bill Clinton saw him as a trusted aid to Osama Bin Laden and as having played a key part in the 1998 US embassy bombing in Tanzania and Kenya. He is woven all through the pre-9/11 intelligence. This guy is a very bad dude. And the NY Times is taking his side because he was interrogated with harsh techniques.
Never charged and never tried, Abu Zubaydah has also never been allowed to speak publicly about his ordeal. His American abusers have never been held to account.
President Obama is likely to leave office having failed to close Guantánamo, which he promised to do when he ran for office in 2008, calling it an insult to the Constitution and American values. He has, however, made significant headway in winnowing down the detainee population. Only 61 of the 780 men who have been detained in Guantánamo remain.
And hundreds have returned to the battlefield. Perhaps Obama would be OK with a detention facility near his out-of-office house?
The two people seeking Mr. Obama’s job have staked out opposite positions on Guantánamo. Donald Trump has vowed to keep the prison open, expand it and “bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding.†Hillary Clinton has rightly concluded that “over the years, Guantánamo has inspired more terrorists than it has imprisoned.†That outcome could well have been avoided if men like Abu Zubaydah hadn’t been tortured, and if they had been given a chance to contest their detention in a court of law.
Poll after poll sees Americans support keeping Gitmo open. Poll after poll shows Americans support enhanced interrogation of terrorists. It’s only in Progressive World where they are worried about the feelings of stone cold jihadis, to the point of taking their side.
Crossed at Right Wing News.
Read: NY Times Openly Sides With Al Qaeda Over Club Gitmo »
