Al Qaeda’s jailbreaks have been an all too common occurrence in the post-9/11 world. And they have directly fueled the fight. Chances are the massive jailbreak in Iraq this week will cause significant problems for the U.S. and its allies down the road. History tells us as much. There are numerous examples of once-detained al Qaeda operatives rejoining the terror network. Consider just two examples.

The current head of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), Nasir al Wuhayshi, escaped from a Yemeni jail in 2006. Along with a hardened crew of other escapees and ex-Guantanamo detainees, Wuhayshi went on to rebuild al Qaeda’s Arabian franchise after it had been decimated by years of counterterrorism operations.