The Daily Dish points out a “factual account of who was seized and imprisoned at Gitmo”.

Andy Worthington: The Definitive Prisoner List

Key Points

1. “At least 93 percent of the 779 men and boys imprisoned in total — were either completely innocent people, seized as a result of dubious intelligence or sold for bounty payments, or Taliban foot soldiers, recruited to fight an inter-Muslim civil war that began long before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and that had nothing to do with al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden or international terrorism.”
2. “Overall, as it stood at December 31, 2009, 574 prisoners had been released from Guantánamo (532 under Bush, 42 under Obama), one — Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani — had been transferred to the US mainland to face a federal court trial, six had died, and 198 remained. “

Sullivan also points to an article by Stuart Taylor in the Atlantic to debunk many of the assertions that continue to be made by those who support Guantánamo and the use of torture. There is no doubt that there is a dangerous enemy and it remains a primary responsibility of government to be ever vigilant. However, there were dangerous enemies before and there will be dangerous enemies again. They will become more clever or utilize ever more exotic techologies. It is the nature of the human condition. Why is it necessary to create false information to enhance fear, or to abandon core principles for the purpose of expediency?* This is not an exhibition of sound leadership, or strength in the face of an enemy, but the actions of scared men.

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* Simple act of “due process”  which traces back to English Common Law and the Magna Carta in 1215.