Terrorism suspects who have been held but released from Guantanamo Bay are increasingly returning to the fight against the United States and its allies, the Pentagon said Tuesday.Just in case you believed the Pentagon was actually going to work with the President on this thing, let's get reality straight here. Obama is not the defense community's pal. He's nearly as much the enemy as our guests in Gitmo are to the Pentagon, the CIA, or the FBI. These boys play hardball, and the message to Obama is clear: closing Gitmo is going to be as ugly, painful, and embarassing for Obama as Obama chooses to make it for the Pentagon.Sixty-one detainees released from the U.S. Navy base prison in Cuba are believed to have rejoined the fight, said Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell, citing data from December. That's up from 37 as of March 2008, Morrell said.
The new figures come as President-elect Barack Obama prepares to issue an executive order during his first week in office to close the controversial prison. It's unlikely, however, that the Guantanamo detention facility will be closed anytime soon as Obama weighs what to do with the estimated 250 al-Qaida, Taliban or other foreign fighter suspects still there.
It took less than 24 hours for the Pentagon to completely undermine the entire "close Gitmo" scenario, and you can bet we're going to see the GOP line up behind the Pentagon and say that Obama can't do it or he's "soft on terrorism". If anything, they are going to argue that Obama now has no choice but to keep Gitmo open indefinitely.
It will be a good test of just how much muscle the Bushies have left. "Keep Gitmo open" is going to be a no-brainer position for war hawks from both sides of the aisle to take in Congress. If they can gain broad support, Obama's entire agenda is in real trouble.
On the other hand, if the usual suspects don't back the Pentagon's message, Obama will have won a huge victory.
Either way, the fight to close Gitmo has just started.
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