Hamas Rearms, GITMO Recidivism
This is a transcript of the Unto the Breach program. Click here for the audio.
Despite the three-week Israeli operation into Gaza, the terrorist group Hamas may be even better off than they were before Operation Cast Lead.
Senior adviser to Hamas’ Prime Minister, Ahmed Yousef, told the Sydney Morning Herald that Hamas was rearming, and that the terrorist group had no intention of a peaceful resolution with Israel. That’s the same Ahmed Yousef that gave Hamas’ endorsement of Barack Obama back in April 2008.
Yousef called on Obama to open direct negotiations with Hamas, “I’m sure that with time, [the US] will contact Hamas one way or another, either secretly or openly they will sit with Hamas, because without Hamas nothing can be moved.”
Obama told the New York Times in a May 2008 interview that Hamas (and Hezbollah) have “legitimate claims.”
That’s creepy, and a sad departure from the Bush Administration, who refused to negotiate with terrorists. And when you consider that Obama still plans to open direct negotiations with Iran, who is on the doorstep of a nuclear arsenal, it is easy to see why Hamas believes that Obama will talk with them.
Meanwhile, a U.S. Navy task force has been operating in the area, and has disrupted multiple vessels trying to resupply Hamas with rockets, mortars, and even artillery shells. Hamas was not previously thought to have artillery. The task force is acting on intelligence provided by Israel, Egypt, and Cyprus.
Recently, the Navy halted a vessel carrying Iranian munitions. And now, Aaron Klein at World Net Daily reports that another was turned around in the Suez Canal.
Israeli officials believe that somewhere between 60 and 70 percent of Hamas’ tunnels used for arms smuggling were destroyed. But the Gazans didn’t even let the dust settle before they went to work restoring them. Anything that relates to peace when it comes to Hamas shouldn’t be taken seriously. Hamas’ charter tells us all that we need to know: “There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors.”
It’s hard to take peace talks seriously when one side wants nothing short of the “obliteration” of the other side.
Finally, while the Obama Administration has made closing Guantanamo a top priority, two released GITMO inmates have appeared on an al Qaeda (AQ) video. Abu Sufyan al-Azdi al-Shahri (prisoner number 372) is now an AQ in Yemen senior leader, and Abu al-Hareth Muhammad al-Oufi (prisoner 333) is now an AQ field commander.
The Pentagon estimates that 61 former GITMO detainees have returned to Jihad.