Cornell Insider

a blog by the writers of the Cornell Review

Archive for December 29th, 2009

Leaving Gitmo? Pack your crayons!

Posted by Oliver Renick on December 29, 2009

Brace yourself.  The two al Qaeda leaders who claim to be behind the Christmas plane bombing attempt were once prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.  At least until November 2007, at which point they were released to Saudi Arabia.  After transferring from Cuba to Arabia, they were enrolled into an “art therapy rehabilitation program.”

Again for emphasis: “art therapy rehabilitation program.”

The prisoners, Muhamad Attik al-Harbi and Said Ali Shari, prisoners #333 and #372, respectively, were released from all forms detainment shortly thereafter.  Upon release, they rejoined al Qaeda, became ‘military commanders,’ and began to plot the attempted bombing on Northwest Flight 253.  Or so they claim.  But maybe they’re lying.  The reality is that it doesn’t matter.  Even if the role they attained after their release was merely ‘dude on camera who makes false claims,’ we still have a problem.  These were just two guys that were released under the Bush administration.  As of yet, I have been unable to find (on the internet) any speculation on why they were let go, but it seems reasonable to assume it was due to some level of political pressure (as we all know how fond the Bush admin. was of letting terrorists loose).

So what can we assume will happen when Obama decides to shut down the entire prison? The worst part about this is that the “art rehabilitation program” was not experimental, or a ‘trial-run’, on this specific group of Gitmo transfers.  It is an established and long-running system that has been and will continue to be employed.  Maybe I’m shallow or uncultured, or maybe I just don’t understand the philosophical impact of art, but what kind of blind idiocy is behind this scheme? Or rather, who is the mastermind terrorist that coordinated this incredible facade?

I’m just curious, what constitutes a ‘passing grade’ in this art class?  If the student doesn’t draw a turban-toting stick figure with some jockeys full of pentaerythritol tetranitrate does he get let go?  I encourage you to watch the video linked below – it is absolutely horrifying, yet darkly comedic at the same time.  It is footage from the Saudi’s art rehab which they say has “had its failures but  overall, the effort has helped return potential terrorists to a meaningful life.”  You don’t make a terrorist rehab program that “has failures.”  Better yet, you don’t make terrorist rehab programs.  My favorite part of the video is when they all pass around a box of donuts.

It is your civic duty to click this image

Posted in National News | Tagged: , | Leave a Comment »

Face of Terrorism

Posted by Oliver Renick on December 29, 2009

Ralph Peters, ex-Army Colonel and outspoken advocate of the U.S. Military and counter-terrorism efforts, writes about how political correctness is encouraging Americans to lie to themselves about the connections between Islam and terrorism.  Peters writes in his traditional polemical style, so his piece is sure to get some people heated.  Nevertheless, I think he hits the nail on the head a few times.  He first points out how our enemies do not share the same sensitivity we do through political correctness – a simple observation, but too often people forget this.

Contrast our political correctness with Abdulmutallab’s choice of Christmas for his intended massacre. Our troops stand down on Muslim holidays. A captive terrorist merely has to claim that a soldier dog-eared a Koran, and it’s courts-martial all around.

But more importantly, Peters addresses the most crucial aspect of the terrorism scenario: Americans’ fear of labeling Islam as a religion that produces violence.  I have written on this subject before, and still embrace my original conclusion that the public’s conception of Islam can only be determined by the actions of its followers: this image will not change until the zealots are silenced by the religion’s real practitioners.  Peters writes:

We proclaim that the terrorists “don’t represent Islam.” OK, whom do they represent? The Franciscans? We don’t get to decide what’s Islam and what isn’t. Muslims do. And far too many of them approve of violent jihad.

He also brings up something that has been bothering me since the attempted attack.  If you were to turn on the TV over the course of the week following the incident, you would see commentators and terrorism analysts trying to determine whether or not Abdulmuttalab was really acting on behalf of Al Qaeda as he claimed.  As Peters points out, “al Qaeda’s far more than a formal organization; it’s an idea, a cause. If a terrorist says he’s al Qaeda, he is, even if he doesn’t have a union card from Jihadi Local 632.”  Peters also discusses the reality of the socio-economic role in breeding terrorists.  I highly recommend the article, as well as Peters’ analysis of the Fort Hood attack, where he says that “there’s no such thing as ‘Islamist terrorism’ in ObamaWorld.”

Posted in National News | Tagged: , | Leave a Comment »

 
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.