Are Guantanamo-Recidivism Statistics Fake?

 by Deb Cupples |   The prison at Guantanamo is a popular subject these days.  Days before President Obama took his oath of office, the Pentagon put out a very vague statement about the release of detainees.  President Obama says he wants to close Guantanamo -- but not now, because there seem to be problems with closing it. 

Also last week, media outlets repeatedly repeated a story about a large number of Guantanamo detainees who'd been let go and allegedly resumed to terrorist activities.  CNN casts doubt on the statistics' validity:

"Security experts are questioning information released by the Pentagon last week, saying 61 former detainees from its detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, may have returned to terrorist activities."

You can see the rest of the CNN report here.

CNN is not alone.  Seton Hall law professor Mark Denbeaux also refutes the Defense Department's statements about Guantanamo detainees' recidivism:

"Professor Denbeaux of the Center for Policy & Research has said that the Center has determined that 'DOD has issued 'recidivism' numbers 43 times, and each time they have been wrong -- this last time the most egregiously so.'

"Denbeaux stated: 'Once again, they've failed to identify names, numbers, dates, times, places, or acts upon which their report relies. Every time they have been required to identify the parties, the DOD has been forced to retract their false IDs and their numbers. They have included people who have never even set foot in Guantanamo, much less were they released from there.

"'They have counted people as "returning to the fight" for their having written an Op-ed piece in the New York Times and for their having appeared in a documentary exhibited at the Cannes Film Festival. The DOD has revised and retracted their internally conflicting definitions, criteria, and their numbers so often that they have ceased to have any meaning except as an effort to sway public opinion by painting a false portrait of the supposed dangers of these men.'

"'Forty-three times they have given numbers which conflict with each other, all of which are seriously undercut by the DOD statement that "they do not track" former detainees. Rather than making up numbers "willy-nilly" about post release conduct, America might be better served if our government actually kept track of them." 

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Comments

[Ron Russell]

Yes, the walls at Gitmo will come crashing down and the bad guys will find a new home in the good ole USA---probably under worse living conditions than they have now. Personally I think we should take them out of that tropical resort and put them in a real american prison with hardcore american killers--lets see how bad they really are. One thing for sure (no guessing) when the next big attack comes on the U.S., Mr. Obama will change quicker than a gay guy in a redneck bar.

[Ron Russell]

Americans could care less what the recidivism rate is---let one of these guys walk on to a N.Y.C. subway and blow himself up and see what we really think--all the ACLU types will run for cover and point fingers at Bush and you know it---give me a break. Actually, and I hate to said it, the hand writing in on the wall, another attack will happen. The war on terror is still on and not saying those words doesn't change a thing, or perhaps in a way it does. It insures that attack will come---and that american blood will be on the hands of those who favor such insane policies and no amount of spin and finger-pointing will fool americans (not with blood in the streets).

[Deb]

Hi Ron,

My point wasn't specifically about what the accurate statistics would look like -- or whether another terrorist attack is imminent. (Incidentally, I agree with you that some terrorists somewhere are likely interested in attacking).

My point is that some of our tax-dollar-paid officials seem to be misleading us taxpayers. That's it.

[Gloria Zuniga]

I think that keeping guantanamo open is a good idea it keeps enemies in a isolated area where they are forced to tell the whereabouts of our greater enemies so it will lead to their capture and death