Abdel Hakim al-Hasady, an influential Islamic preacher and high-school teacher who spent five years at a training camp in eastern Afghanistan, oversees the recruitment, training and deployment of about 300 rebel fighters from Darna.

Sufyan Ben Qumu, a Libyan army veteran who worked for Osama bin Laden’s holding company in Sudan and later for an al Qaeda-linked charity in Afghanistan, is training many of the city’s rebel recruits.

“I strongly believe that the American system of justice is a key part of our arsenal in the war against Al Qaeda and its affiliates, and we will continue to draw on all aspects of our justice system — including Article III courts — to ensure that our security and our values are strengthened,”

You know, if they could move Gitmo out of Cuba to either Chicago or San Francisco/Berkeley, we could save some money on housing these terrorist scum. And the citizens would love them! This would be a win win situation!

Don’t you just feel even safer knowing that those in the Obama regime actually expected terrorists from Gitmo to return to the battlefield?

There is a lot of inertia” against closing the prison, “and the administration is not putting a lot of energy behind their position that I can see,” said Senator Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and supports the Illinois plan. He added that “the odds are that it will still be open” by the next presidential inauguration.

And Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who also supports shutting it, said the effort is “on life support and it’s unlikely to close any time soon.” He attributed the collapse to some fellow Republicans’ “demagoguery” and the administration’s poor planning and decision-making “paralysis.”

“Several of those detainees were put into Yemeni custody right away,” Brennan said. He did not elaborate on how many is “several” or where the other Guantanamo inmates sent to Yemen might be today. But he said the U.S. has faith in Yemen to handle the situation. “We’ve had close dialogue with the Yemeni government about the expectations that we have as far as what they’re supposed to do when these detainees go back,” Brennan said.

Given that, host Chris Wallace asked, “You are going to consider on a case-by-case basis sending more Yemenis back to Yemen?”

“Absolutely,” said Brennan.

Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Brennan explained that, “Of the recent batch that we sent back, about six, many of them are in custody within the Yemeni system right now.” He did not elaborate on the meaning of “many.” “We will decide and determine when, when we should send additional people back,” Brennan continued. “But we’re going to do it in the right way, because Guantanamo should be closed. It was used as a propaganda tool by al-Qaeda, and the president is still committed to it.” The message was clear: Guantanamo inmates are going back to Yemen.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4hXKnaz8mA

“Guantanamo detainees should not be released to Yemen at this time,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said in a statement. “It is too unstable.”

Gee really Dianne? A little late to the party aren’t you?

Feinstein’s warning comes just nine days after the Department of Justice announced the most recent transfer of 12 detainees from Guantanamo Bay to Afghanistan, Yemen and Somaliland. Six of the 12 were transferred to the government of Yemen.

An al Qaeda wing in Yemen claimed responsibility for last week’s attempted bombing of the Northwest Airlines flight headed to Detroit.

The organization known as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula said the plot was retaliation for U.S. assistance to Yemen’s military, which has launched air strikes on safe house and training camps in recent weeks that killed as many as 60 al Qaeda members.

In addition, two of the planners behind the Christmas Day bombing plot had been released to Saudi Arabia from Guantanamo Bay in 2007 and ended up rejoining terrorist ranks in Yemen, according to a report by ABC News’s Brian Ross.

Feinstein joins a chorus of Republicans who have issued warnings about the release of detainees in the aftermath of Friday’s attempted attack on the passenger jet.

Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) on Tuesday sent a letter to President Barack Obama asking him to halt the transfer of six Guantanamo detainees to Yemen given the danger they realize that country now poses.

Obama on Tuesday blamed a “systemic failure” in the nation’s security apparatus for the attempted bombing and vowed to identify the problems and “deal with them immediately.” He said a review of the failures would be completed by Thursday.

Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.), the top Republican on the Senate intelligence committee, urged Obama to “rethink” his decision to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in the wake of last week’s attack.

He said reports that two of the planners behind the Christmas Day plot had been released from Guantanamo Bay in 2007 should immediately force Obama to call back former detainees recently released in Yemen and elsewhere.

“The president ought to rethink it now,” Bond told The Hill. “The question is, Are we going to take every step possible to keep our country safe? That means stop releasing Gitmo detainees now.”

Obama has so far stood firm in his decision to shutter Guantanamo, arguing its closure would restore international credibility in the U.S. legal system. The president has pledged not to release any detainee who would endanger the American people and set up the Guantanamo Review Task Force to review information about detainees before making a decision on whether to release them.

In the Dec. 20 announcement about the detainees’ release, the Justice Department said the task force had conducted a “comprehensive review” in each of the cases, examining potential threat and mitigation measures. More than 560 detainees have departed Guantanamo Bay for 36 countries since 2002, according to Justice.

When he took office, the president set a one-year deadline to close the prison but earlier this month acknowledged it would slip as he looks for places to transfer the detainees, including the Thomson Correctional Center in Illinois

The White House did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

Feinstein’s and Bond’s warnings demonstrates heightened concern in the intelligence community about the rate of recidivism for released Guantanamo Bay detainees.

Earlier this year, the Department of Defense confirmed that at least 18 detainees who were released had rejoined the terrorist ranks. The Pentagon suspected another 43 of doing the same.

The drawn-out construction timetable shows the political risk of Obama’s pledge, a delay that could even be extended by congressional opposition to funding the purchase and upgrades for the Thomson Correctional Center, an underused state facility about 150 miles west of Chicago.

Lawmakers in both parties have been wary of bringing detainees to the United States. Attorney General Eric Holder already has decided that self-declared 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others will be tried in federal court in New York City.

In the Senate, a spokesman for Republican leader Mitch McConnell promised that the GOP would use delaying tactics to prevent funding the Illinois facility and added that he expected support from Democrats.

“I think there will be bipartisan opposition” to bringing detainees to Illinois, Donald Stewart said.

Congress also needs to change a law prohibiting detention in the U.S. of detainees who are not awaiting trial.

The prison in rural western Illinois may not be purchased from the state until March and will need up to 10 months of construction, said Joe Shoemaker, spokesman for Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.

Shoemaker said, “The end of 2010 or the start of 2011 has always been the mark the administration talked to us about.”

Obama originally said Guantanamo would close Jan. 22, 2010. While that date proved unrealistic, the president has directed administration officials to move quickly to acquire the maximum-security prison in Illinois.

White House spokesman Ben LaBolt on Wednesday would not say when Guantanamo would close.

“The president remains as committed today to closing the detention facility at Guantanamo as he was when he entered office, and substantial progress has been made in recent weeks,” LaBolt told The Associated Press. “The detainee population at Guantanamo is now smaller than it has been at any time since 2002.

The US plans to send 116 detainees to their home countries or to third countries willing to accept them.

Security fears

“These transfers were carried out under individual arrangements between the United States and relevant foreign authorities to ensure the transfers took place under appropriate security measures,” the Department of Justice said in a statement.

“Consultations with foreign authorities regarding these individuals will continue.”

Yemenis account for almost half of the 198 detainees who remain at the US military base in Cuba. But officials fear many could re-join militant groups if sent back to Yemen.

The Washington Post reported last week that the Yemeni transfers were the result of months of high-level talks with the government in Sanaa.

It said US officials are prepared to repatriate more Yemenis if the transfer goes well.

President Obama has pledged to shut the controversial detention centre in 2010, and announced last week that many of the detainees would be sent to a prison in the US state of Illinois.

Some will face trials in US criminal or military courts, while others are expected to be transferred abroad.

Thomson Correctional Center is a maximum security prison that opened in 2001 but has never been fully utilized because of state budget issues.

Information from the state of Illinois indicates that Thomson Correctional Center is a Level 1 adult male maximum-security facility comprised of 1,600 cells and eight housing units, none of which are currently used. The facility is on 146 acres and is currently surrounded by a 12-foot exterior fence and 15-foot interior fence — which includes a dual sided electric stun fence. The cell houses were constructed with pre-cast, reinforced cement walls. The complex also contains a 200-bed minimum-security unit, which has been operational.

“Closing the detention center at Guantanamo is essential to protecting our national security and helping our troops by removing a deadly recruiting tool from the hands of al Qaeda,” the official said. “Tomorrow’s announcement is an important step forward as we work to achieve our national security objectives.”

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and Sen. Dick Durbin, two leading officials — both Democrats — who have supported the move, will be briefed on the decision Tuesday by administration officials.

“This is America and our government is supposed to be of the people, by the people, for the people, and we the people were not even consulted about this decision to bring suspected terrorists to Illinois.” Beverly Perlson, founder of the Band of Mothers, and one of the rally organizers, said during a phone interview.

Thompson memo –

The Obama administration has vowed to close the Guantanamo facility, but acknowledges it is unlikely to happen by its self-imposed deadline of January 22.

About 215 men are held there. They include alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who, officials said on November 13, will be transferred to New York to go on trial in civilian court.

Carter, a lawyer and Army veteran, joined the administration April 27 after writing briefs in two key Supreme Court cases related to detainee policy.

In a meeting with the press in China, President Obama said that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed would be “convicted” and had “the death penalty applied to him” . . . and then said he wasn’t “pre-judging” the case. He made the second statement after it was pointed out to him — by NBC’s Chuck Todd — that the first statement would be taken as the president’s interfering in the trial process. Obama said that wasn’t his intention. I’m sure it wasn’t — he’s trying to contain the political damage caused by his decision — but that won’t matter. He has given the defense its first motion that the executive branch, indeed the president himself, is tainting the jury pool. Nice work.

Here’s a question: If the White House made up its mind about this six months ago–that would be in May, roughly four months after President Obama’s inauguration–why did it wait until last week to make the announcement? That it was the week after an election is bound to raise suspicions that the timing was politically motivated.

“They see this as an opportunity to demagogue,” he said. “They will seize on any opportunity to do that, and that means they’ll even take a stand that’s un-American.”

“It’s un-American to hold anyone indefinitely without trial,” Moran added. “It’s against our principles as a nation.”

Kinda like when Steny Hoyer and Nancy Pelosi called people who disagree with government’s takeover of healthcare un-american too.

Of course Moran simply uses the Republican cop out, but there are plenty of non-Republicans who are opposed to this too. There is also the family of Daniel Pearl. Daniel Pearl you might sadly remember was murdered and beheaded by none other than Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. They are opposed to bringing these terrorist scum to New York too. Am I to assume they are un-american too? Oh btw, I don’t know their political ideology. In a statement provided to The Hill late Saturday night, signed by the foundation created by Pearl’s parents, Ruth and Judea Pearl, said:

“We are sorry to learn of the Justice Department decision to try KSM in a NYC Federal Court.

We are respectful of the legal process, but believe that giving confessed terrorists a worldwide platform to publicize their ideology sends the wrong message to potential terrorists, inviting them in essence, to resort to violence and cruelty in order to gain publicity.

We believe that justice is better served if the trial of KSM, the confessed murderer of Daniel Pearl, be held in closed session.”

Quinn and Obama discussed converting Thomson to a federal facility at a Nov. 4 White House meeting. In a Nov. 12 letter to Holder and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the governor acknowledged that Guantanamo prisoners could end up at Thomson.

“As plans are being formulated to potentially move federal prisoners and to locate a limited number of detainees in the United States, we stand ready to provide you with any assistance as this process moves forward,” said the letter, which was obtained by the Sun-Times.

Quinn also said the plan has the support of Thomson Village President Jerry Hebeler, whose economically depressed town paid for expensive infrastructure improvements for a prison that never fully opened.

Mr. Mohammed and the other “alleged” terrorists will have the right to a speedy trial, the right to publicly paid counsel, the right to immediate access to all government evidence – – including the most sensitive intelligent files – – that can be used against him, the right to remain silent, the right to obtain witnesses in his favor, the right of protection against self incrimination, and the right to participate in jury selection.

Thanks Obama’s decision, Mohammed will have a platform to reach out to radical Islamists throughout the world to join in the holy war against the United States and the opportunity to disseminate highly confidential government information to every jihadist in creation.