Category Archives: terrorism

Why Releasing Known Terrorists During the Global War on Terror is a Bad Idea

Posted on by mjgranger

The release of known terrorists, especially during an ongoing Global War on Terror, seems counterintuitive and potentially dangerous. The analogy of “capture-the-flag” illustrates this point succinctly: retaining captured adversaries weakens their side; letting them go weakens your side. However, the decision by the Biden administration to release 11 Yemeni detainees from Guantanamo Bay (Gitmo) in January 2025 has sparked significant debate and concern.

On his first day as President, Barack Hussein Obama promised to “close Gitmo.”

Historical Context and Gitmo’s Role:

The US military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (Gitmo), was initially established as a response to international crises but was repurposed after 9/11 to detain unlawful combatants from Afghanistan, individuals intent on perpetrating acts of terror against the U.S. and its allies. The facility was operated with a directive to treat detainees within the spirit of the Geneva Conventions, as articulated by then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, ensuring dignity and respect for prisoners, which was confirmed by international observers like those from the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Swiss ICRC physicians interviewing a Gitmo detainee, Camp X-Ray, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, January, 2002. They told me, “No one does [detention operations] better than the US.”

The Risks of Releasing Terrorists:

Releasing known terrorists, particularly those with direct links to al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, sends a message of weakness at a time when terrorist threats, including attacks like those in Germany, New Orleans, and Israel, underscore the persistent danger posed by radical Islamic terrorism. The statistics are alarming: of the over 750 detainees released from Gitmo, 30% are known or suspected to have returned to terrorism, suggesting that the threat these individuals pose does not necessarily diminish with release.

President Barack Hussein Obama traded an admitted traitor for five Taliban leaders.

Legal and Moral Considerations:

The Law of War allows for detention of unlawful combatants as well as POWs, without charge or trial, until hostilities cease. However, the treatment and release of these detainees have been influenced by political pressures and evolving legal frameworks, notably the Military Commissions Acts of 2006 and 2009, which have granted detainees rights akin to those in civilian courts. This shift contrasts with historical precedents like Operation Pastorius, where swift military justice was administered to German saboteurs during WWII.

Executed German saboteurs, denied habeas corpus and tried by military commission (tribunal). None had hurt a fly nor destroyed any property, they merely had the means and intent to do so, in violation of the Geneva Conventions and Law of War. What’s different now?

The moral argument against torture or harsh treatment was somewhat overshadowed by the effectiveness of Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (EIT) in obtaining life-saving intelligence, though these practices were later discontinued. Yet, the comparison between Gitmo’s operations and the brutal treatment of captives by terrorist groups like ISIS or Hamas starkly underlines the ethical disparity.

The author’s memoir, based on his experiences as the Joint Detainee Operations Group US Army Medical Department officer, Joint Task Force 160, FEB-JUN 2002.

Current Threats and Global Implications:

The recent spate of terrorist activities globally, including the Hamas attacks in Israel, challenges the notion of “peaceful Islam” and forces a reevaluation of policies like detainee release. The narrative of Islamophobia versus genuine security concerns becomes more pronounced when considering the historical expansionist nature of Islam and its doctrinal roots in conquest, as seen through the actions of Muhammad and the spread of Islamic rule over centuries.

Political Islam.

Conclusion:

Releasing known terrorists during the Global War on Terror not only potentially endangers national security but also undermines the moral and strategic efforts of those combating terrorism. It raises questions about the commitment to the war’s objectives and the safety of citizens worldwide. In an era marked by increased terrorist activities and the ideological spread of radical Islam, such actions could be seen not just as misguided but as potentially treasonous, especially when the lessons from past conflicts and current threats are so evidently clear. The decision to release these individuals should be critically examined in the context of ongoing global security challenges.

Montgomery Granger is a retired major in the US Army, and author of “Saving Grace at Guantanamo Bay: A Memoir of a Citizen Warrior,” and narrator of the short YouTube documentary film, “Heroes of GITMO.”

This blog post was assisted with the use of Grok.

Schrodinger’s Muslim

Posted on by mjgranger

In quantum physics there is a paradox scenario that illustrates how one could imagine two different states of reality existing at the same time. The paradox is called Schrodinger’s Cat.

In this scenario, a cat is in a sealed box, along with a radioactive isotope that will degrade within an hour, a Geiger counter and a hammer. If the isotope degrades, the Geiger counter will detect it, setting off the hammer to kill the cat.

One doesn’t know the status of the cat unless one opens the box.

In quantum mechanics, the theory states that both states of the cat, alive and dead, can exist simultaneously, in separate universes.

George Orwell, in his book “1984,” has a name for this in terms of corrupt government control of the language: Doublethink. The state of accepting two conflicting thoughts simultaneously.

Doublespeak is the manifestation of doublethink.

WAR IS PEACE

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

Rather than perceive Schrodinger’s Cat as a contradiction, in quantum mechanics it is a way of perceiving two separate realities at once.

Today, our real-life Schrodinger’s Cat has become Schrodinger’s Muslim.

Should we believe that even Normal American Muslims (NAMs)are both contributing members of civil society and potentially blood thirsty terrorists, a-la 9/11, where NAMs in the US took flying lessons but not landing lessons in plain sight, before they flew planes into perfectly good buildings and a field in Pennsylvania, and killed nearly 3,000 innocent men, women, children and pregnant women?

Imagine Japanese Americans parading down Broadway in Manhattan, New York City, on December 8, 1941, waving Rising Sun flags and criticizing the US for shooting down Imperial Japanese warplanes over Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Let that sink in. Picture it.

That is Schrodinger’s Imperial Japanese.

What we did with Japanese Americans a few months into 1942 was intern them for the four years it took to defeat Imperial Japan in WWII.

The status of Muslims in America is changing, and rapidly. If we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit that Islam is incompatible with American culture, values and laws. Islamic supremacists want only theocracy, government and religion in one. That is diametrically opposed to democracy, our Constitution and laws.

Islamic supremacists will never assimilate to US or western culture, nor do they respect US or western laws.

Islamic supremacists immigrate to non-Muslim majority countries and then criticize our culture and laws and insist on living according to Sharia (which is an END STATE without “kafir” (non-believers). We have allowed this because we are all-accepting and diverse, and that’s what strengthens us, right? Diversity?

Is this idea of strength through diversity why 57 Muslim majority countries are importing Asians and Westerners by the hoards into their countries? No? Why not? Isn’t diversity strength?

This migration is called Hijra, required of all Muslims, invented by the founder of Islam, Muhammad, who performed the first Hijra from Mecca, where he was rejected, to Yathrib, an Arab and Jewish enclave, later renamed Medina, but only after Muhammad had slaughtered hundreds of Jews and then assumed control of the city. So began the trail of murder, rape, pedophilia, enslavement, taxing, forced conversion to Islam, from only the Arabian Peninsula during Muhammad’s time, to now dozens of countries world wide.

There are 57 member states in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. How many times have you read a statement from them, or the Arab League, condemning Islamic supremacists or terrorism? I have been questioned on social media about all the “peace-loving” Muslims who reject Islamic supremacism and terrorism. I say to them, show me when these “peace-loving” Muslims have rejected Islamic supremacists and terrorism publicly. Where are they? Cowering in the dark, far away from the media camera lights and microphones.

How many domestic terror or sabotage incidents were there in the United States, perpetrated by Imperial Japanese pretending to be American citizens, from March 1941 to March 1946? I couldn’t find any.

Does that justify the internment of over 100,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans during WWII?

Is the cat alive or dead? You only know for sure if you open the box, labeled in this case, “Pandora.”

Pandora’s Box contained human suffering, evil, despair, and hope. When opened, Pandora released these things into the world but closed the box in time to save hope.

Schrodinger’s Muslim is both alive and dead, peace loving and terrorist, trustworthy and a lying, cheating, bloodthirsty supremacist.

If we read the Quran, the Muslim holy book, we will find (Meccan) peace-loving scriptures , but also edicts, rules and laws that are misogynistic, violent, deceptive, murderous and cruel (Medinan). They exist simultaneously, in the same book.

The German Christmas market massacre and the New Orleans massacre, and no the Australian Bondi Beach, Washington, DC, and Brown University have something in common: Schrodinger’s Muslim. Citizens of the countries in which they lived, the Muslim perpetrators of these terrorist acts were somewhat civil in their daily lives and interactions with others, one even espousing anti-Muslim ideation. Yet all became “Mr. Hyde,” as they slammed into and shot innocent human beings who were merely going about their Judeo and/or Christian business, celebrating the birth of Christ, the renewal of the Roman calendar, Chanukah, and studying about Israel respectively. These activities and beliefs considered “haram” (unacceptable) by an Islamic supremacist.

The concept of “taqiyya” is in play as well. This is the Muslim practice of morally absolved deception towards kafir or non-believers (us). This was certainly the case with the German incident, where the Muslim pretended to be anti-Islam, until of course he ran over innocent men, women and children with a two-ton truck.

Schrodinger’s Muslim will kill you while smiling.

However uncomfortable it is to even think it, especially after remunerating Japanese Americans with $20,000 each and an official presidential apology for their internment in 1988, we must now discuss the necessity of doing something about Schrodinger’s Muslim.

Internment camps, deportation, surveillance, questioning, swearing of statements of loyalty for non-citizens, etc.

Islamophobia? Irrational fear of Muslims? Does this prevent us from ever talking about their Anglophobia and intolerance of western culture and laws?

Schrodinger’s Muslim is the definition of irrationality. We are entering into the realm of double-negatives, paradoxes and brain cramps; quantum rationality, where two conflicting ideas exist simultaneously.

Do we do what we decided was discrimination, inhumane and possibly un-Constitutional treatment towards Japanese and fix the problem? Or, do we ignore reality, facts and blood that we observe when we open the box or turn on the TV or social media?