via FoxNews.com:
New data from the nation's top intelligence official shows that the number of Guantanamo Bay detainees returning to the battlefield continues to grow at an extraordinary rate.
The report from the director of national intelligence says that 150 of the 598 detainees who have been transferred out of Guantanamo's detention camps, about 25 percent, are now confirmed or suspected of returning to the battlefield.
I'm glad FoxNews.com brought this issue to our attention. Too bad the reporting is so limited. One thing I would like to know - and will try to find out from news sources that usually do some digging when they write about important events - are the circumstances surrounding the release of Guantanamo Bay detainees that are the subject of this article. Did they complete their sentences? Did they get paroled? Pardoned? Exonerated? Transferred to other countries (and if so, on what terms and conditions)?
Recidivism is something we Americans know a lot about. We incarcerate a lot of our own people. And sadly, there is a fairly high rate of recidivism in most states (although I've heard that some states have instituted thoughtful reforms and are seeing positive results as a consequence).
Maybe we should apply some of what we've learned from studying recidivism in our society to the situation at the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay. We know that many ex-felons re-offend because, after serving their terms of imprisonment, they return to a life no better equipped to live lawfully then when they went in. They have no job skills, their underlying addictions have gone un-treated or if treated, there are limited aftercare resources and in some instances these folks simply don't have money and housing to sustain them. I realize that the ex-felons have a responsibility to be law-abiding citizens and that the foregoing issues do not excuse criminal behavior, but these are examples of factors that contribute to recidivism.
Is the military providing some kind rehabilitation for the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay? I don't think they are, and in fact, I think the very poor treatment at Guantanamo Bay is likely creating or adding to a hatred of America.
I'm going to guess that the people released were people who, after years and years of languishing in this prison, were confirmed not to be terrorists. We all know by now that there were numerous such detainees. So, thanks to American lawyers' efforts on these detainees behalf, some of these innocent men have been set free. If some of these men are now joining the fight against us, then I would guess that we (the U.S.) played a big role in radicalizing them. The innocent men released came in to Guantanamo Bay without any justification, but over the years of torture and degrading conditions and generally being held without any legal recourse, they may have developed a hatred against us. Is that so hard to believe?
The FoxNews.com article seems to suggest that the answer is to not release the people held at Guantanamo Bay. Perhaps a more thoughtful solution would be to create some meaningful legal framework for detainees to contest their detention, to treat the detainees humanely and to put the best of American values on display to these men. That way, when the innocent men are vetted and eventually released, they may come out with a little less bitterness against us.

Recent Comments