Former Gitmo Resident Now Senior Taliban Commander

[tomahawk6]

Proof positive that Gitmo detainee's are indeed bad guys and not just some poor goat herder scooped up by american troops and you can take them out of the jihad but you cant take the jihad out of the man.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gepueqQ9a2V5zxXES7DoGnVhSFHwD96REDRO0

Officials: Afghanistan Taliban leader was at Gitmo
By PAMELA HESS – 1 hour ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials say the Taliban's new top operations officer in southern Afghanistan is a former prisoner at the Guantanamo detention center. Pentagon and CIA officials say Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul was among 13 prisoners released to the Afghan government in December 2007. He is now known as Mullah Abdullah Zakir, a name officials say is used by the Taliban leader in charge of operations against U.S. and Afghan forces in southern Afghanistan.

One intelligence official told The Associated Press that Rasoul's stated mission is to counter the growing U.S. troop surge.

 

[SeaKingTacco]

Oh, come on now- I'm sure that this is just one large misunderstanding.  Mr Rasoul is probably just "pretending" to be a "Taliban Commander".  I mean, none of this can possibly be for real, can it?  :

 

[tomahawk6]

We have not found a way to rehabilitate jihadists. Just like we put down dangerous animals we need to do the same with jihadists.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Oh, come on now- I'm sure that this is just one large misunderstanding.  Mr Rasoul is probably just "pretending" to be a "Taliban Commander".  I mean, none of this can possibly be for real, can it?  :

How do we even know it's the SAME Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul, right?  :

A bit of background on the lad from the NY Times, and the statement announcing his gang's release.

 

[HollywoodHitman]

I'd be very surprised if anyone voiced shock or surprise at this development.

 

[Ex-Dragoon]

Of course the whiners will say his treatment at Gitmo caused him to take up arms against the West.... :

 

[OldSolduer]

We have not found a way to rehabilitate jihadists.

Yeah we have....it's a vigorous course of mineral therapy, pyrotechnically injected... :sniper:

 

[Journeyman]

He's hardly alone, and he won't remotely be the last. They were picked-up because their actions were obviously suspect.

Abu Sayyaf al-Shihri  (aka Said Ali al-Shihri), the guy who organized the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Sana (Yemen's capital), was released to Saudi Arabia in 2007. Following the merger of al-Qaida organizations in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, this former-Gitmo detainee is now the D/Comd of AQAP (al-Qaida on the Arabian Peninsula).

Figure he learned his AQ command abilities while a prisoner? Nope, he had them all along.

These terrorists are now being released -- there has been no US efforts at rehabilitation (no blame assigned; it wasn't part of their mandate) -- and now these shitheads are continuing on with their al-Qaida efforts.

Surprised?

 

[ltmaverick25]

The part that is surprising to me is that they are being released in the first place.  Completely counter productive.  And just look at the few examples discussed here.  Were not talking about bottom ringers, these guys are part of the leadership.  It is criminal to release these guys when you are still busy fighting a war on terror.

In an absolute worst case scenario one could always declare them POWs and then hold them indefinitly until the war is over.

 

[geo]

In an absolute worst case scenario one could always declare them POWs and then hold them indefinitly until the war is over.

Do you really think this war will ever be completely "over".
Take a look at what is going on in Northern Ireland - everyone thought the "troubles" were behind them and.... POOF!... they're back again.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Do you really think this war will ever be completely "over".
Take a look at what is going on in Northern Ireland - everyone thought the "troubles" were behind them and.... POOF!... they're back again.

Because in both instances, it only takes a few extremists to get the fire lit again.

He's hardly alone, and he won't remotely be the last. They were picked-up because their actions were obviously suspect .... Figure he learned his AQ command abilities while a prisoner? Nope, he had them all along.

Curious on your take and that of others - even if they MAY have been closer to the bottom of the pyramid when they went into GTMO, how critical would having been there be in increasing their cred (and, let's face it, discipline and toughness from making it through the regime) among other bad guys?  No matter where buddy was upon capture, "time in" could equal power capital within the organization when they return home.

 

[ltmaverick25]

Do you really think this war will ever be completely "over".
Take a look at what is going on in Northern Ireland - everyone thought the "troubles" were behind them and.... POOF!... they're back again.

I never said I thought the war would ever be entirely over.  I just said they could hold on to them as POWs until the war is over...

Meaning, if they wanted to hold on to these guys indefinitly, calling them POWs would make the most sence.  You usually dont turn POWs back until its over, thus giving you a great reason for keeping them captive as long as you want without the same kind of pressure to force them to stand trial by a court system that likely wont get it right and release these guys back out there.

 

[Journeyman]

Curious on your take and that of others - even if they MAY have been closer to the bottom of the pyramid when they went into GTMO, how critical would having been there be in increasing their cred (and, let's face it, discipline and toughness from making it through the regime) among other bad guys?  No matter where buddy was upon capture, "time in" could equal power capital within the organization when they return home.

True -- theoretically. But in this particular case there's strong justification for believing that he was reasonably high up before, and he met a particular AQAP requirement, which made him suitable for that position.

If his previous stature was correct, of course, it begs the question of why he was released in the first place.  ~shrug~

 

[NL_engineer]

I think the US should build a rehabilitation center in Texas, it should have a low fence, and no outside facing guards, and located off a highway with signs identifying the rehabilitationees to the public  ;D

I think that with the public's help they could be rehabilitated  ;D

 

[HollywoodHitman]

Being held at Gitmo and released probably elevates them in their organisations...Like a gucci course or something....

 

[tomahawk6]

One would hope that one or two of these guys has been turned.

 

[ltmaverick25]

Thats always possible.  Its not like they were released in the new Obama love affair, or released by Canada's liberals.  It was the Bush administration.  Its still hard to beleive any of them could be turned though, not unless they had something to gain by it, the question is what?

 

[gun runner]

Couldn't they take these bastards out behind the shack, put one in the ear and save the tax payers a couple of hundred thousand dollars? Nope they send 'em back to the sandbox, and now we have one more lunatic to hunt down and eradicate. Nice. Ubique

 

[armyvern]

Couldn't they take these bastards out behind the shack, put one in the ear and save the tax payers a couple of hundred thousand dollars? Nope they send 'em back to the sandbox, and now we have one more lunatic to hunt down and eradicate. Nice. Ubique

Clearly, although many think along the same terms as you ...

That would be murder - plain and simple. It is precisely because we do not do things like that (even in a lunatical manner) ourselves that makes us better than the enemy. We fight the good fight - and we fight it right.

 

[ltmaverick25]

Releasing our enemies so they can kill us another day hardly qualifies as fighting the fight right in my view.