The White House argued Tuesday that because only seven Guantanamo Bay detainees released under President Obama are known to have returned to terrorism, that constitutes a “successful” policy of releasing those detainees.
Spokesman Josh Earnest was citing a new U.S. intelligence report that said seven former detainees have returned to terrorism, and the number of former detainees who are suspected of taking up with terrorists again rose from six to 12. But Earnest focused on the confirmed cases of recidivism, and defended it by saying the number represents about 5 percent of those who have been released.
“That is a testament to the kinds of policies that this administration has put in place … to carefully review on a case-by-case the status of individual detainees and to make careful decisions about what sort of security measures could be put in place” when they are transferred to other countries, he said.
The 5 percent figure, he said, “is a pretty good indication of how successful those policies have been.”
Obama has released 144 detainees, so the seven cases of recidivism are just under 5 percent. The report found an additional detainee released during President George W. Bush’s time in office is now also suspected of returning to terrorist activities.
Despite the White House effort to downplay the report, it will likely give more fodder for GOP critics of President Obama’s plan to release detainees to countries who agree to take them, and eventually shutter the Guantanamo Bay prison.
Asked whether the report would cause the administration to rethink its policy of continuing to transfer detainees cleared for release to other countries, Earnest said only that U.S. intelligence authorities are closely monitoring the former detainees’ activity to “mitigate the risk they pose to the American people.”
“The only reason that we can suspect that they’ve reengaged in the process is because we have a lot of insight into what they’re doing, and we’re taking a close look based on those security measures, and their activities and their actions and engagements with other people,” he said.
Overall, the report found a total of 118 of 676 former Guantanamo Bay prisoners released during both the Obama and Bush administrations have reengaged in terrorism, or about 17 percent. Another 86 are suspected of rejoining a terrorist group.
The report also warned that detainees who remain at Guantanamo could rejoin the fight if released, “based on trends identified during the past eleven years.”
“Transfers to countries with ongoing conflicts and internal instability, as well as recruitment by insurgent and terrorist organizations, could pose problems,” the report stated.
