Ireland Takes Two Gitmo “Detainees”

Jake Tapper, ABC News’ respected White House reporter, had the news up last night. I usually read him daily, but last night I was writing thank-you notes until I staggered off to bed.

The Department of Justice Saturday evening announced that two detainees had been transferred from Guantanamo Bay to Ireland, and one had been transferred to Yemen.

The Ireland deal has been in the works since at least March.

The key words here are Saturday evening. This administration specializes in dropping bad news bombs into the weekend news cycle. Do they think we’re all idjits and won’t notice their nefarious activities?

Tapper has been keeping an eye on this since July:
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On July 29, as we covered at the time, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs announced Ireland had agreed to accept two Uzbek detainees from Guantanamo Bay.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen told CNN at the time that “it is incumbent on us, those who called for [Guantánamo’s] closure, to assist the United States now in ensuring that certain prisoners be relocated elsewhere.”

“Obviously we will keep an eye on them very closely,” he said.

Irish Justice Minister Demot Ahern said in July that Ireland would “adhere to the norms of official procedure in respecting the rights of the two men to their privacy.”

Oh, absolutely. If anyone deserves their privacy, it’s the residents of Gitmo. It’s not like we don’t have plenty of information that many released terrorists go back to their field of work. Can Demot Ahern say “RECIVIDISM”? Better yet, can he explain why these two are going to behave?

Some educated guesses by Mr. Tapper as to their identity. I mean just in case you’re a landlord in Ireland and have a vacancy:

The Obama administration did not name the detainees released to Ireland. “Pursuant to a request from the government of Ireland, the identities of these detainees are being withheld for security and privacy reasons,” read a statement from the Justice Department. Amnesty International has been lobbying Ireland to accept Uzbek national Oybek Jamoldinivich Jabbarov, and another Uzbekh.

At the time of his detention by U.S. forces in 2001, Jabbarov, now 31, lived with his pregnant wife, infant son, and mother lived with other Uzbek refugees in northern Afghanistan in 2001 when fighting broke out between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance.

“Oybek was not captured on the battlefield, nor was he armed,” his attorney Michael Mone testified before Congress in May 2008. “Instead, he accepted a ride from a group of Northern Alliance soldiers he met at a roadside teahouse who said they would give him a ride to Mazar-e-Sharif. Unfortunately, instead of driving him to Mazar-e-Sharif, the soldiers took Oybek to Bagram Air Base where they handed him over to U.S. forces, undoubtedly in exchange for a sizable bounty. In a desperately poor, war-torn country, Oybek was an easy mark for soldiers responding to leaflets dropped throughout Afghanistan by the U.S. military offering thousands of dollars in cash rewards to anyone who turned over a Taliban or foreign fighter.”

Before the Combatant Status Review Board, Jabbarov was accused of having “supported the Taliban and al Qaida.”

The U.S. government claimed that Jabbarov “admitted that he was a member of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan,” which appears in the United States Department of Homeland Security ‘Terrorist Organization Reference Guide,’ and having attended IMU training camps.

The government said he “stayed in a safe house owned by the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group,” which also appears on the ‘Terrorist Organization Reference Guide,” and “reportedly is used by al Qaida to obtain travel documents.”

Of course he denies any involvement. Jabbarov says he was just in Afghanistan for some livestock trading to support his family. Innocent-like, you know? Just minding his own business.

The U.S. Tribunal that heard his case cleared him for release in 2007. Needless to say, at the hearing he backtracked on his previous admissions.

No doubt the suicidal Loony Left in Ireland is ecstatic with their new prizes.

Yemen, on the other hand, will either disappear their guy or send him back into battle. One way or the other, we’ll only find out well after the fact, if at all.

To our Irish readers, two requests:

1. What do you think the lunatics in charge will get out of this deal? What do you think the payoff is for supplying sanctuary to killers?

2. Would you please let us know if government somehow manages to misplace their charges? If your government is like ours, you’ll only find out by reading the weekend news.

For the rest of us, let’s hope that this tetched Taoiseach doesn’t decide to take a half dozen more.