Pentagon: More return to fight after leaving Gitmo

One in five terror suspects released from the Guantanamo Bay prison has returned to the fight, according to a classified Pentagon report expected to stoke an already fierce debate over President Barack Obama's plan to close the military prison.

The finding reflects an upward trend on the recidivism rate, although human rights activists who advocate closing the prison have questioned the validity of such numbers. Early last year, the Pentagon reported that the rate of released detainees returning to militancy was 11 percent. In April, it was 14 percent. The latest figure was 20 percent, according to a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the report had not been declassified and released.

Critics of the reports say there is so little information in the assessments that they are nearly impossible to verify independently. Civil rights advocates say the number of fighters suspected of or confirmed as returning to the battlefield is likely to be much smaller.

According to a senior administration official, the White House has not been presented with information that suggests that any of the detainees transferred during the Obama administration has returned to the fight. Meanwhile, Republicans say the rising number suggests the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, cannot be closed because that would mean either releasing hardened terrorists back into the fight or moving them into U.S. prisons, which many Americans oppose.

"Guantanamo remains the proper place for holding terrorists, especially those who may not be able to be detained as securely in a third country," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday. ...

via Pentagon: More return to fight after leaving Gitmo - Yahoo! News.

Comments:

So if the people begin RELEASED are JOINING militant groups.. then what the hell did we detain them for in the first place? If they didn’t already belong to any militant group and we abused and tortured them for all those years then of course they are going to become militant.

I agree, I’d pretty much hate any country that took me hostage and tortured me. The only thing that could make the torture feel better is the thought of revenge.

An increasing number of politicians have been apparently frighted so much that they'd put everyone on the planet in jail, just to be safe. The more we jail people indefinitely without charges, the more people will join the fight against us. Hold Obama to his promise. Close  Gitmo and lets have some real justice. That means fair trials and either freedom or sentencing.