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May 7, 2009
Obama might send 100 Gitmo detainees to the Saudis for 're-education'
One of the best War on Terror films made so far was "The Kingdom" which was about a small FBI evidence team in Saudi Arabia investigating an attack on an American compound.
During the film, lead FBI investigator Ronald Fluery played by Jamie Foxx and his Saudi police counterpart visit a former terrorist bomber for information. The "reformed" bomber is running a community center where kids are playing video games that feature American soldiers as the bad guys. The kids are blowing up and shooting the Americans, having a gay old time doing it.
The former bomber was being "reformed" by a program that allows terrorists who surrender voluntarily to receive religious instruction and do community service. It is a real program that the Saudis say is very successful.
We don't know that. Which is why Obama's idea to send 100 or so Yemeni prisoners from Gitmo to Saudi Arabia may backfire in the end.
Jake Tapper and Luis Martinez at The Note report on the plan:
This morning in Riyadh, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he spoke to Saudi Assistant Minister of the Interior Muhammed bin Nayaf about sending the roughly 100 Yemeni detainees currently in the detainee center at Guantanamo Bay to Saudi Arabia to the Saudi government's rehabilitation program for jihadis.
Gates said he spoke to Nayaf last night about "our positive impression of the repatriation program, the rehabilitation, repatriation program in Saudi Arabia. I think they've probably done as good if not better job of that than almost anybody and explored the possibility of some of the Yemeni detainees coming through that system. I think the notion would be if it worked at all it would be those with strong Saudi family connections or strong connections to Saudi Arabia."
Detainees from Guantanamo were sent to the Saudi rehabilitation camp by President Bush, to mixed success.
Asked if, once through the program, the Yemenis would remain in Saudi Arabia and be monitored by Saudi authorities, Gates said, "I think that's further down the road than we went. It really was about getting them into the program, not getting them out."
In other words, we're not sure it will work but at least they won't be our responsibility anymore.
The sop Obama threw to his left wing base in closing Gitmo is looking more irresponsible all the time. He should man up and rescind that order before his playing politics with our security blows up in his face and one of the released terrorists kills a lot of Americans.
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