74

WASHINGTON — An unreleased Pentagon report concludes that about one in seven of the 534 prisoners already transferred abroad from the detention center in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, has returned to terrorism or militant activity, according to administration officials.

The conclusion could strengthen the arguments of critics who have warned against the transfer or release of any more detainees as part of President Obama’s plan to shut down the prison by January. Past Pentagon reports on Guantánamo recidivism have been met with skepticism from civil liberties groups and criticized for their lack of detail.

The New York Times needs to finish their sentence above:

"The conclusion could strengthen the arguments of critics who have warned against the transfer or release of any more detainees as part of President Obama's plan to shut down the prison by January....unless we can distort, delude, and otherwise shape the factual reference that 74 detainees returned to killing innocents because we wanted to stick it to George W. Bush."

There...that's better.

“It’s part of a campaign to win the hearts and minds of history for Guantánamo,” said Mark P. Denbeaux, a professor at Seton Hall University School of Law who has represented Guantánamo detainees and co-written three studies highly critical of the Pentagon’s previous recidivism reports. “They want to be able to claim there really were bad people there.”

Mr. Denbeaux acknowledged that some of the named detainees had engaged in verifiable terrorist acts since their release, but he said his research showed that their numbers were small.

“We’ve never said there weren’t some people who would return to the fight,” Mr. Denbeaux said. “It seems to be unavoidable. Nothing is perfect.”

If you go to Seton Hall and you have this guy for a class...do this:

1. Ask for 74 extra credit points on all tests and quizzes. As the good professor points out, it is a very small number and shouldn't make a difference.

2. When you receive a red mark for making an error on a test, request that it be removed because...after all...nothing is perfect.

3. Write at least three highly critical studies on Professor Denbeaux and submit them to the Dean of Academic Affairs.

Cheers,
The Worm

Syria...and the rest of the weasels...

VIENNA: U.N. nuclear agency samples taken from a Syrian site suspected of being a secretly built reactor have revealed new traces of processed uranium, the agency reported Thursday.

Imagine that...then ask yourself why Syria disallows any follow-up visits by inspectors...

...and the band played on.

...since President Obama took over from Bush in January, the tide seems to be turning favorably for Syria.

Two delegations from the U.S. Congress have already visited Syria. Later this week, Sen. John Kerry, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is expected in Damascus.

The U.S. is certainly sending positive messages to the country treated by the previous administration as an associate member of the “axis of evil,” along with such U.S. rivals as Iran and North Korea.

For those of you keeping score at home...


1. Financial Crisis Called Top Security Threat to U.S.

2. Appeasement of Cuba.

3. Appeasement of Iran.

4. Appeasement of North Korea.

5. Appeasement of Syria.

6. Appeasement of Burma/Myanmar.

Hey...but I think the French like us more now...that's something...right?