On October 13, Yousef Mohammed al Shiri, one of the innocent young Muslims illegally detained at Guantanamo, was killed somewhere along the Saudi-Yemeni border by Saudi forces while he was preparing for a suicide bombing. I’ve lost count (and so has the Pentagon, apparently), but by January of this year, at least 61 former detainees had returned to jihad. Let’s add at least one to that number.
Congress voted to let these innocent men be tried in the United States, but hasn’t cleared the way for incarceration or liberation stateside. Apparently, that’s not enough for Amherst, Massachusetts selectman Gerry Weiss. He’s not too worried about terrorism: “I think they were wrongly imprisoned,” he told the Boston Globe. “I don’t believe they want revenge. I think they would be very grateful to any people that show them some kindness. They may harbor some ill will toward the U.S. government, but that would be a lot of people.”
Meanwhile, back in reality, the ever-decent ranking member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, Pete Hoekstra, was today smacked down by his own committee chairman for asking the Obama administration to cough up details on plans to move detainees to Michigan. “This shouldn’t be about a personal issue you want to look at,” explained Rep. Silvestre Reyes.
Hoekstra, how dare you use your position in the House of Representatives to, you know, represent. Just because these detainees want to kill people, doesn’t mean they don’t deserve to live in Michigan. Or, better still, Massachusetts.