Pentagon: 61 ex-Gitmo inmates have returned to jihad

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Pentagon said on Tuesday that 61 former detainees from its military prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, appear to have returned to terrorism since their release from custody.

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said 18 former detainees are confirmed as "returning to the fight" and 43 are suspected of having done in a report issued late in December by the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Morrell declined to provide details such as the identity of the former detainees, why and where they were released or what actions they have taken since leaving U.S. custody.

"This is acts of terrorism. It could be Iraq, Afghanistan, it could be acts of terrorism around the world," he told reporters.

Morrell said the latest figures, current through December 24, showed an 11 percent recidivism rate, up from 7 percent in a March 2008 report that counted 37 former detainees as suspected or confirmed active militants....

The Pentagon said it considers a former detainee's return to terrorism "confirmed" when evidence shows direct involvement in terrorist activities. U.S. officials see a "suspected" terrorism links when intelligence shows a plausible link with terrorist activities.

"Propaganda does not qualify as a terrorist activity," the Pentagon said in a statement.

Maybe not. But has the Pentagon stopped to consider that terrorist activity is born from propaganda, and that maybe they need to take off the PC blinkers long enough to examine that propaganda, its content and sources, and formulate some ways to deal with the challenge it presents.

Now the Messaih is going to issue an executive order to close Gitmo on "Day one" of his riegn. What is the chosen one going to do with these terrorists. These men did not just randomly get picked up and put into Gitmo. They were waging jihad on the battlefield. Personally, I think they should be shot on site, but we do need intelligence. Which is going to be badly hurt by Obama, just like under Clinton. I can see it now. They will be brought onto US soil, some lawyer will get them released and some liberal judge will say that they have to be released into the US. You have to remember that their countries of orgin do not want them back.