An al-Qaida operative released years ago from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has re-emerged as a terrorist leader to the extent that the U.S. government now offers a $5 million reward for information on his whereabouts.
In a scathing report, the watchdog agency Judicial Watch says Ibrahim al-Rubaysh, now 34, was released from Gitmo by President George W. Bush in 2006, only to be placed on a new global terrorist list.
Gitmo is now being "emptied out" under President Obama, said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, which issued the report citing documentation that as many as 150 released terrorists have since returned to their jihadist ways.
TRENDING: To DEI for
"The unbelievable story comes as President Obama frees more and more terrorists — including four to Afghanistan over the weekend — long held in the military compound at the U.S. Naval base in southeastern Cuba," Judicial Watch said in the report.
Obama's goal is to close the prison, a campaign promise that dates back to 2008, by relocating the last of the world’s most dangerous terrorists to countries that will take them.
Those still remaining at the facility are 9/11 masterminds Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi as well as USS Cole bomber Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.
Hundreds of Gitmo terrorists have been discharged over the years under a program started by Bush and accelerated under Obama.
"Intelligence report after intelligence report has revealed that many rejoin terrorist missions after leaving the military prison," said the JW report. "Now we learn that the U.S. government is secretly admitting that it erred in at least one case, the release of a Saudi national named Ibrahim al-Rubaysh."
Failed rehab program exposed
In late 2006 the Bush administration sent al-Rubaysh back home under a Saudi Arabian "rehabilitation" program that was supposed to "reform" captured jihadists.
But as it turned out the Saudi program had a poor record of rehabilitation.
Fitton said the program has a 20 percent recidivism rate, making it debatable whether it was ever designed to be a reform school or just another terrorist training camp.
"So he was released," Fitton said.
Fitton cited a 2008 counter-terrorism report in which U.S. officials confirmed that many of the terrorists who return to the battlefield after being released from U.S. custody actually graduated from the laughable Saudi rehab program, which started under Bush and continued under Obama.
It turns out that al-Rubaysh is the poster child for the Saudi rehab's failures.
"He's a dangerous al-Qaida operative based in Yemen and now, years after freeing him, the United States wants him captured," Fitton said.
This month the State Department coined al-Rubaysh as the "senior leader" of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a specially designated global terrorist entity.
A published poet
But al-Rubaysh has made a name for himself in more than just the world in international terrorism. He is apparently a pretty good poet as well. At least Calicut University thinks so. The university in Kerala, India, has included his poem "Ode to the Sea" about his five years spent at Gitmo as part of its Literature and Contemporary Issues studies, reported India Today.
The terrorist's poem has also been published by Amnesty International in an anthology called "Poems from Guantanamo: The Detainees Speak." Amnesty is a frequent advocate for releasing Gitmo detainees.
One lecturer from Calicut University was quoted in India Today as saying that while the poem was expressive, the poet's background was "quite disturbing."
Moving up the ladder
Al-Rubaysh's career as a terror kingpin also appears to be on an upward trajectory. He now serves as a senior advisor for AQAP operational planning and is involved in the planning of attacks, according to a State Department announcement.
"He has served as a senior AQAP sharia official since 2013, and as a senior AQAP sharia official, al-Rubaysh provides the justification for attacks conducted by AQAP. He has also made public statements, including one August 2014 in which he called on Muslims to wage war against the United States," the State Department document says.
The policy of trying captured terror suspects in civilian court on U.S. soil was rejected by both Democrats and Republicans after Obama first took office.
"The only reason that policy failed is because both parties opposed it," Fitton said. "We've been to almost every proceeding in Gitmo and we're almost always the only group there that has not been opposed to detaining terrorists, and opposed to granting additional rights for terrorists. The major media are certainly populated by those who advocate for more rights for terrorists."
Even President Bush, "who presumably should have known better, was clearing out Gitmo in a way that was reckless," Fitton said. "The policy of releasing Gitmo detainees that everyone involved acknowledges is a potential risk, that is a real and present danger to our national security."
Lessons not learned
"We've learned no lessons from the Bush administration," Fitton added. "In fact it has accelerated. There were half a dozen (detainees) released two weeks ago to Uruguay and another four were released over the weekend to Afghanistan."
Fitton said Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was more cautious about releasing Gitmo detainees and now he has announced his resignation and is on his way out.
President Obama's preferred method of dealing with terrorists has been to send drones to kill them. Often these drones kill anyone else who happens to be in the area, including family members.
"So we get lectures on waterboarding from someone who thinks these type of strikes are OK," Fitton said.
Fitton said it would behoove the U.S. to capture more terrorists alive. Hence, more useable intelligence might be gathered from the captives.
"I fear sometimes the drone strikes are designed more to assassinate, whereas some of the terrorists might have been captured and we choose to assassinate them instead," he said. "There's a fair debate about that but it is true that a dead man tells no tales.
"There are good and bad elements to drone technology, some of which we might not know for years, so I don't want to get too far ahead of it, but the president's policy of releasing terrorists in light of his peculiar view of human rights is very concerning."
Back in 2010 the director of National Intelligence gave Congress documentation that 150 former Gitmo detainees were confirmed or suspected of "re-engaging in terrorist or insurgent activities after transfer."
At least 83 remained at large, according to the document.
The U.S. government has offered a $5 million reward for information that could lead to al-Rubaysh’s capture. The prize is part of a $45 million pot offered by the State Department’s Rewards for Justice Program involving eight key AQAP leaders, among them al-Rubaysh.
Information on some of al-Rubaysh’s compatriots could net informants $10 million, but he's only worth half that, according to the U.S. government.
"The bottom line remains: The U.S. had him and let him go. Now it's offering a chunk of change for his capture," the JW report concluded. "Uncle Sam has paid out over $125 million to more than 80 people who provided actionable information that put terrorists behind bars or prevented acts of international terrorism worldwide. The reward program appears to be the government's best hope of capturing this terrorist it once held."