That’s right; the president is freeing the al-Qaeda operative, Idris Ahmad Abdu Qadir Idris, who once protected the world’s most famous Islamic terrorist. The administration announced the list late last week and most of the media coverage has focused on the overdue release of the most benign captives. One mainstream newspaper mentioned the Chinese Muslims of the Uighur minority who rebelled against the Beijing leadership and never represented a threat to the U.S. or other western countries.

Another news article focused on a Saudi national who was cleared long ago by the Bush Administration but fears repatriation. It also tells the story of several Yemenis and Syrians who haven’t been repatriated because their countries are rocked by unrest and Tunisians who fear persecution if returned to the dictatorship in their homelands.

News report after news report tells the same sob story except for a conservative publication that points out bin Laden’s body guard is among those approved to leave the military prison in southeastern Cuba. Idris Ahmad Abdu Qadir Idris provided security for bin Laden before and after the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and the Pentagon, the story says. Yet, President Obama plans to release him from the high-security detention center.  If it’s any consolation, inclusion on the list does not mean that the United States has absolved them of any wrongdoing or that it believes they pose no threat.

Check out a 2008 Department of Defense (DOD) report on the body guard, who is labeled a high-risk detainee. Besides identifying him as bin Laden’s security guy, it reveals that Idris Ahmad Abdu Qadir Idris is an al-Qaeda recruiter associated with a Salafist network in Yemen. Detainee transited through multiple extremist support guesthouses, received militant training at the al-Faruq Training Camp in Afghanistan and is assessed to have received advanced training, the DOD report says.

A number of Guantanamo detainees who have been released over the years have rejoined terrorist missions after leaving the military prison, according to a variety of intelligence and Pentagon reports. A few years ago President Obama’s National Intelligence Director confirmed that one in four resume terrorist activities against the United States after being released. Previous to that the Pentagon reported a sharp rise in the number of detainees who rejoined terrorist missions after leaving Guantanamo.   

But clearing out the prison is part of Obama’s goal to return America to the “moral high ground.” Remember that one of his biggest promises during the 2008 presidential campaign was to close Guantanamo. The president has also caved into terrorists in other ways. Last year he released a Hezbollah militant, Ali Mussa Daqduq, in U.S. military custody for murdering five American soldiers in Iraq. Obama turned him over to Iraq out of respect for the country’s sovereignty and last month an Iraqi court absolved him.  

As part of “Taliban reconciliation efforts,” the terrorists would be transferred to Qatar, a Middle Eastern Arab state where the militant Islamic group will soon open an office. The Obama Administration is selling the preposterous deal to Congress by saying that the prisoners won’t actually be released but rather transferred to the custody of the Qatari government and they will remain in jail.

While much of the mainstream media has ignored this unbelievable story, a bimonthly global magazine dedicated to covering politics and economics, published a piece this week on how the backdoor deal is going down. It includes details of how top Obama Administration officials briefed eight senior Senate leaders this week about the pending Taliban “transfer” from Gitmo to Qatar.

The classified briefing took place in the basement of the capitol building and none of the eight senators would discuss details, according to the magazine, but a few spoke before entering the secure briefing room. Michigan Senator Carl Levin revealed that the briefing was “about the ongoing Taliban reconciliation efforts.” The Democrat lawmaker questioned whether the Qataris can be trusted to keep the Taliban prisoners behind bars.  

Calling the deal “highly questionable,” Arizona Senator John McCain said he’s not confident that the Qataris will keep the Taliban prisoners locked up. The Republican lawmaker also noted that at least one of the prisoners was responsible for the deaths of several Americans. Reports have identified three of them as Mullah Khair Khowa, a former interior minister, Noorullah Noori, a former governor in northern Afghanistan and former army commander Mullah Fazl Akhund.

It’s not clear who the two others will be, though one thing is certain; the Obama Administration’s own Guantanamo review task force has determined that they are too dangerous to transfer. Additionally, U.S. intelligence assessments have concluded that the Taliban prisoners scheduled for transfer are too dangerous to be released.

The Taliban is a radical terrorist group that rules large parts of Afghanistan and enforces Sharia law, the authoritarian doctrine that inspires Islamists and their jihadism. Just last month the Taliban released a horrific video of the executions of 15 Pakistani soldiers that had been abducted weeks earlier. Incredibly, the Obama Administration believes the terrorist group is reformed and last month began engaging in “peace talks” with Taliban leaders.     

Al-Nashiri appeared physically fit, cocky and quite relaxed for a man facing death. At times he smiled and often looked back at the media and observer gallery separated from the courtroom by sound-proof glass. Shortly after entering the courtroom al-Nashiri waved at the observer gallery where family of USS Cole victims also sat. At a press conference following the four-hour hearing, al-Nashiri’s defense attorney, Richard Kammen, dismissed it as a “completely meaningless gesture” and a “reaction to being in a different setting.” Al-Nashiri did not enter a plea in the death-penalty case.

Next to al-Nashiri were his four taxpayer-funded defense attorneys—two civilian and two military—led by Kammen, who has impressive credentials as a renowned death-penalty lawyer who has appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court and federal district courts throughout the nation. Kammen estimates it will cost millions to defend al-Nashiri, whose trial has been tentatively scheduled for next November.

About an hour into the hearing Kammen bombarded the judge, Army Colonel James Pohl, with a series of questions not permitted by counsel in civilian courts. Among them was the judge’s personal opinion about the death penalty and if he thought al-Nashiri was guilty. Kammen also asked Judge Pohl if he believed that, by torturing al-Nashiri, the U.S. forfeited its “moral authority to seek the death penalty” against him. The judge responded that he did not think al-Nashiri was guilty and dismissed the other questions as irrelevant to the proceedings.

Judge Pohl went out of his way to assure that al-Nashiri understood all his rights and repeatedly asked if he comprehended what was going on in the hearing. Al-Nashiri responded affirmatively, often slouching in his chair and appearing uninterested. Besides al-Nashiri, eight people sat on the defense side and six on the prosecution. Designed to try high-value detainees, the courtroom seats only the legal teams and jury. Around 15 chairs that accommodate military guards, line the side wall. The viewing gallery seats about 50 and audio is delayed 40 seconds to protect classified information that may arise in proceedings.

Judicial Watch was approved by the Department of Defense (DOD) to observe al-Nashiri’s arraignment along with several legal and civil rights groups, most of which are advocating on his behalf and pushing for the trial to be held in a civil court rather than a military tribunal. Judicial Watch witnessed a deep commitment to justice by military lawyers as well as al-Nashiri’s topnotch capital defense attorney. Even some of the pro al-Nashiri civil rights advocates who witnessed the arraignment admitted it was “well managed” and that they were “impressed” with some of the questions asked by defense attorneys.

The USS Cole was the target of a suicide attack while the warship was moored and being refueled in the Yemeni port of Aden. Seventeen American sailors were killed and dozens were injured. The blast occurred when a skiff laden with explosives detonated against the port-side hull of the USS Cole and tore a 40-by-40-foot hole in the side of the stricken ship. It was the deadliest attack against a U.S. Naval vessel since the Iraqi attack on the USS Stark in May 1987.

Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda terrorist organization claimed responsibility for the attack. In 2002, al-Qaeda operative al-Nashiri was captured in the United Arab Emirates and charged with being the mastermind of the bombing. He has been a prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay facility since September 2006. Previous to that, he was held in a secret CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) location. A DOD intelligence report describes him as one of al-Qaeda’s most skilled, capable and prolific operational coordinators.

After the arraignment the father of a sailor who died in the blast answered what appeared to be a challenge by a reporter about the death penalty in this case. “It’s worth it for 17 of our soldiers,” said John Clodfelter whose 21-year-old son Kenneth died in the USS Cole attack.

Judicial Watch representative Irene Garcia has been approved to observe the proceedings by the U.S. Department of Defense through the Office of Military Commissions. At this time, the proceedings against Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri is the only active case scheduled for Guantanamo Bay.

The USS Cole was the target of a suicide attack while the warship was moored and being refueled in the Yemeni port of Aden. Seventeen American sailors were killed and 39 were injured. The blast occurred when a skiff laden with explosives detonated against the port-side hull of the USS Cole and tore a 40-by-40-foot hole in the side of the stricken ship. It was the deadliest attack against a U.S. Naval vessel since the Iraqi attack on the USS Stark in May 1987.

Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda terrorist organization claimed responsibility for the attack. In 2002, al-Qaeda operative Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri was captured in the United Arab Emirates and charged with being the mastermind of the bombing. He has been a prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay facility since September 2006. Previous to that, he was held in a secret CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) location.

Two days after his inauguration, Barack Obama signed an executive order directing that Guantanamo Bay be closed within a year. While the facility remains open, White House Spokesman Jay Carney told reporters in February 2011: “The president remains committed to closing Guantanamo.”

“It has been a long time in coming, but Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri will now face the justice he deserves before a military tribunal,” said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch. “In the effort to bring terrorists into the civilian court system, the Obama administration has irresponsibly disparaged military tribunals and the Guantanamo Bay terrorist-detention facility. We look forward to once again observing the military tribunal process and to providing some balance to the radical groups advocating for the terrorist detainees that will also be observing the proceedings.”

Judicial Watch Civil Litigation Director and attorney Paul Orfanedes visited Guantanamo Bay in 2008 to monitor military commission proceedings against Khalid Sheik Mohammed and other top 9/11 conspirators.

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