Pres. Obama, Fmr. VP Cheney Speak on Nat'l Security http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/21/live-blogging-the-presidents-national-security-speech/?hpMassive L.A. Gang Sweep Targets Crime, Race Violence
Terrorism Summary: ABC http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/05/terrorism-front.html
In Wake of Plot NY Jewish & Muslim Leaders Meet to Decry Violence
Judge Rules on Detentions
WHAS TV News: White Supremacy IKA News Story: KY (referred from a colleague)
SPLC: "Anti-Semitic CA Imam Lies About Hate Crime Bill"
1 in 7 Gitmo Inmates Rejoin Fight
Flashback: 10/12/ 2004 Intvw. on Released Detainees Who Rejoined Terror, O'Reilly Factor
O'REILLY: In the "Unresolved Problem" Segment tonight, as you know, the U.S. government is under tremendous pressure to release suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay. So far, more than 200 of those people have been let go, and six have come back to haunt America. That doesn't seem to matter to human rights groups who continue to clamor for the release of suspected terrorists. Joining us now from Los Angeles is Brian Levin, the director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism. Now let's run down some of these guys. First of all, it just annoys me. I know we have to watch the detention centers at Guantanamo and other places. I understand that, OK. But it annoys me that these human rights groups -- they just pound and pound and pound. And then when you get one of these guys who's released and they go back and kill or do something heinous, you never hear from these groups. They don't have any comment. And that just makes me crazy. I had to get it off my chest. All right. Abdullah Mehsud. He was released last March with 25 other Gitmo inmates. What happened to him? BRIAN LEVIN, CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF HATE AND EXTREMISM: Well, he's holding two Chinese people hostage in the Waziristan section of Pakistan, and there are intense negotiations going on now to try and get the release of these two Chinese engineers who are being held by him. He lost his leg. He's about 29 years old, and he is someone who was with the Taliban. O'REILLY: Why is he holding these two people, these two Chinese engineers? What does he want? LEVIN: Well, he's annoyed that there had been shelling of tribal areas. Mehsud is a tribe that's actually in the area, so he shares a name with this tribe. But this tribe wants him to like lay low and get rid of these hostages -- when I say get rid of them, release them -- because it could only mean worse things for them. O'REILLY: Right. So this guy -- this guy's an active Taliban commander living in northwest Pakistan, correct? LEVIN: That's correct, and in that... O'REILLY: Where bin Laden is supposed to be. LEVIN: That is exactly correct. In that region where we've seen drug dealing and terrorists, and it's a very difficult area. O'REILLY: So why would -- why would the USA let this guy out, Mehsud? Why would they let him go? LEVIN: It was a mistake. It was a terrible mistake to let this guy go. O'REILLY: All right. LEVIN: But in fairness... O'REILLY: Just a mistake? LEVIN: Well, a couple things. First, there's been a significant amount of pressure on the United States to release people. Let me just say that he was released before the United States Supreme Court said that we have to go through a tribunal process basically for these prisoners. O'REILLY: Right, right. LEVIN: So there was something else working there. The other thing that -- let me just say -- is -- I think that -- two things. One is it's very difficult to get information from these people who are at the nether regions of the world. It's not like people like us who have driver's licenses and job records and things like. And it -- we've had difficult with regard to releasing prisoners out to other countries. O'REILLY: OK. Now Mullah Abdul Gaffar was released after serving eight months at Gitmo. He returned to Afghanistan. And what happened to him? LEVIN: He was killed about September 25, September 26, and he was plotting to murder police officers, and they got him first. So he was killed in a firefight. O'REILLY: He was killed in a shoot-out, right, with... LEVIN: That's correct. He... O'REILLY: ... U.S.-led coalition troops. LEVIN: In a vicious firefight with U.S. troops. Absolutely. O'REILLY: So this is another mistake that Gaffar was left out. He goes right back and he starts more terrorism, right?LEVIN: He should have never been released. O'REILLY: OK. That's two that shouldn't have. How about Mullah Shazada? Who's he? LEVIN: Yes, he was killed in May '04. He was a provincial Taliban leader, and he was released in the spring of 2003. O'REILLY: All right. LEVIN: So here's another example. O'REILLY: Is this a pattern of behavior then, that you release these guys and a large portion of them go back to jihad? LEVIN: We don't know how large a portion, but let me say this. There are currently 550, approximately, people at Gitmo. We've had 130 who have just been let go outright. We've had about another 30 that have been released to the care of other governments. But, once we release them to the custody of other governments, we don't know what will happen. O'REILLY: Yes, we don't know what happens. LEVIN: The Soviets let seven people go who we thought were going to get incarcerated. O'REILLY: Right. Until they take a hostage or kill somebody. LEVIN: That's correct. O'REILLY: Mr. Levin, thanks very much. We appreciate your expertise.
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