Dec

The President’s Islamist-Fighting Strategy: Catch, Release…Explode?

I may have underestimated President Obama’s approach to fighting Islamist killers. Perhaps he’s being a whole lot more cagy than I thought.

Consider first this story, wherein the administration has released 12 Gitmo detainees to their home counties, including Yemen, Afghanistan and the Somaliland region (Yes, I know Somaliland isn’t an actual country, but I’ll let that one go for now). The releases, especially to Yemen, raised more than a few concerns in Congress. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) went so far as to put his in writing, saying in part that the “deteriorating security situations and the dangerous potential for recidivism” could put American lives at greater risk.

Maybe he needn’t have worried. The President seems to have hit upon a novel way of dealing with at least some of the Gitmo detainees.

Sources tell ABC News that an air raid in Yemen this morning may have killed two top al Qaeda officials as well as an imam believed to have inspired the alleged Fort Hood shooter.
Those believed to have been present at the target in the eastern province Shabwa included the leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Nasser al-Wahayshi, his No. 2, Saeed al-Shehri, and Anwar al-Awlaki, who was quoted telling Al Jazeera Web that Maj. Nidal Hasan, asked him “about killing U.S. soldiers and officers. His question was is it legitimate” under Islamic law.

Now why didn’t we think of this before? Just let the Islamists go, then drop bombs on them when they get home. Not only do we kill the troublesome head-choppers, but we bag a couple of his friends, too. It’s genius!

Okay, sure. Had George Bush concocted this plan, the screaming from the left (and the MSM, but that almost goes without saying, doesn’t it?) would have deafened us all. The ACLU would probably have hit the administration with about a bazillion suits and FOIA requests to find out just who came up with the scheme and if this new “catch, release, explode” plan was just coincidence or a deucedly-clever plan hatched from the hate-blackened mind of the insidious neo-cons. Christmas would not have been merry at all.

Still, it’s not a bad day when we end it with fewer Islamists than when the sun rose. Good on the President for his ingenious plan (even if it really was coincidence).