Bush Learned Everything He Needs to Know About Presidentin' in Bars

Like, for a good detainee policy, he just put a little spin on the phrase he always heard after last call: You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here.

The Pentagon called them "among the most dangerous, best-trained, vicious killers on the face of the earth," sweeping them up after Sept. 11 and hauling them in chains to a U.S. military prison in southeastern Cuba.

Since then, hundreds of the men have been transferred from Guantanamo Bay to other countries, many of them for "continued detention."

And then set free.

And who the hell knows if they were just not as dangerous as the Bush regime claimed, or if a bunch of madmen are on the loose. (Although I bet most of us have a pretty good idea, ahem.) It's not like we keep records of this shit or something.

The United States does not systematically track what happens to detainees once they leave Guantanamo, the U.S. State Department says. Defense lawyers and human rights groups say they know of no centralized database, although one group is attempting to compile one.

The AP says they were able "to track 245 of those formerly held at Guantanamo" and that 205 of them "were either freed without being charged or were cleared of charges related to their detention at Guantanamo. Forty either stand charged with crimes or continue to be detained."

There's more at the link. The whole situation is a huge clusterfuck of mistreatment and mismanagement. Forget the two wars we've started for a moment—this detainee issue alone, holding people for years without charges, evidence, or trial, has probably created more terrorists intent on targeting America. Between the prisoners themselves, their families, their friends, neighbors, associates, it would be simply incredible if none of them bore violent ill will against us. I can't imagine how much hatred we've inflamed, mostly for no reason whatsoever.