Dear Conservative,
Every President takes the oath of office and promises to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” In the post-9/11 age, that requires the President to protect the United States against terrorist organizations hell-bent on killing as many Americans as possible.
If I had to grade how well President Obama has protected the United States from terrorist attacks, he’d likely get a D-. His administration dropped the ball on the Boston Marathon bombers, even though the Russians warned us that the Tsarnaev brothers were terrorists. His administration labeled the Fort Hood terrorist attack as “work-place violence” instead of calling it what it was. Not only did the Obama administration refuse to respond to the Benghazi terror attack, but the administration also lied to the American people to downplay terrorism’s role in the attack. As we speak, Al Qaeda and its affiliates have reclaimed Fallujah, Iraq, a city where over 100 U.S. soldiers lost life and limb during the Iraq War. Today the city is controlled by a coalition of terrorist groups, which is a stark reminder of what happens if you advertise to the enemy when you plan on withdrawing!
Even given these foreign policy and national security failures, President Obama did authorize an operation to kill Osama bin Laden. Just for that, the President avoids a failing-grade and receives a D-. However based on the last few days, we might need to reassess that grade.
During the 2008 campaign, Obama promised that he would close the detention center at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. Since the start of the War in Afghanistan, this detention facility has held the worst of the worst captured off of the battlefield. Now six years after Obama first promised to close it, the prison still remains open. However, Obama has quietly begun making moves to eventually close it.
Just this past week, the Pentagon announced that a former-bodyguard for Osama bin Laden would be released from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and transferred to a prison somewhere in the Middle East.
Mahmoud Abd al-Aziz al-Mujahid was caught in 2002 in the Tora Bora mountain range along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. He received military training at one of al-Qaeda’s camps and he was credited with helping Osama bin Laden escape from American forces into Pakistan.
The Bush Administration deemed him a "high risk" Al Qaeda fighter and "a committed jihadist” of “high intelligence value.” Today, the Obama administration holds that the Yemeni terrorist is “no longer a significant threat to the United States,” and the Pentagon plans to transfer al-Mujahid to any country that will accept him. Instead of holding al-Mujahid in a well-defended military base, Obama is sending him to a third-world prison where he is sure to be released or escape on his own!
How can Obama possibly think that Mahmoud Abd al-Aziz al-Mujahid is no longer a threat to the United States? His last name in Arabic literally means “fighter” and “combatant,” and comes from the same root word as jihad! If we are going to keep ANYONE in prison, shouldn’t we at least start with the terrorists who changed their last-name to jihad?
On January 22, 2009, President Obama issued Executive Order 13492 and created the Guantanamo Review Task Force. The body was charged with reviewing all individuals detained at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility to determine who was still a risk to the United States and who can be released or transferred to anther prison.
The task force released its final report in 2010. It found that because of his history as an al-Qaeda militant and Osama bin Laden’s personal bodyguard, al-Mujahid remained a “High Risk… likely to pose a threat to the U.S. and its interests.” A lot can change in four years… In 2010 the administration admitted that al-Mujahid was a “committed jihadist.” I guess the Task Force actually bothered to translate his last name…
Today, however, Mahmoud Abd al-Aziz al-Mujahid is magically no longer a threat to the United States and will be transferred to a Middle Eastern prison in whatever country will take him. If recent history is any indication, al-Mujahid will be back on the battlefields in no time, killing American soldiers.
What could possibly go wrong from transferring unapologetic terrorists to prisons in the Middle East? Everything!
The Bush Administration made this mistake in 2007 by releasing Abu Sufian bin Qumu from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. Bin Qumu was transferred in 2007 to a prison in Libya (his native country). He would stay in prison for another 4 years until 2011. After the fall of Qaddafi regime, the new government wanted to gain the support of the people. To accomplish this, the new Libyan government pardoned a number of “political prisoners,” one of whom was Abu Sufian bin Qumu.
We wouldn’t see bin Qumu for another year… He was next seen on September 11, 2012 taking part in the attack against the American Consulate in Benghazi that claimed the lives of Ambassador Chris Stevens, Sean Smith, Glen Doherty, Tyrone S. Woods!
This is what happens when al-Qaeda terrorists are released from Guantanamo Bay and just transferred to Middle Eastern countries! They get out of prison and go right back to attacking Americans again. If the sympathetic governments don’t release them on good behavior, these al-Qaeda terrorists are routinely broken out of jail by their allies!
The CIA calls this blowback: when a President’s foolish policies end up coming back to bite him. George W. Bush mistakenly released Abu Sufian bin Qumu from Guantanamo Bay and he ended up taking part in the Benghazi terror attack. Now, Barack Obama sits poised to make the same mistake!
This isn’t an exaggeration! If Obama isn’t stopped, this terrorist will be released to a sympathetic government and will ultimately find his way back to the battlefields. It has happened before, and it will happen again. And unfortunately, al-Mujahid and bin Qumu are just two examples of how we have released terrorists hell-bent on killing as many Americans as possible.
In his recent memoir, former Sec. of Defense Robert Gates accuses President Obama of putting politics over the security of the United States. Almost like clock work, Barack Obama is proving Gates right.
Obama is fulfilling a campaign promise to close the Guantanamo Bay prison, even if that means putting terrorists back on the battlefield. He must be stopped!
This President is not a military tactician, nor is he a national security specialist. Obama is only interested in pleasing his supporters, even if that means putting Americans at risk.
Only an act of Congress can stop Obama from releasing these dangerous terrorists, and only YOU can force Congress to step up and protect the country from Obama’s idealism.
Sincerely,
Joe Otto
Conservative Daily
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