The Naval Station at Guanténamo Bay has housed prisoners taken captive in the war on terror since 2002. Last week, the president released 15 prisoners at the detention center, marking it the single largest release of his administration.

According to the Pentagon, an interagency review board considered their potential threat to security and unanimously approved six of the 15 for release to the United Arab Emirates, and a consensus was reached on releasing the remaining nine.Earlier this year, the administration announced a plan to close down the facilities at Guanténamo, stating that keeping them open was "contrary to our values." When the president took office in 2009, there were 242 detainees still at the prison, down from a high of almost 700. After last week's release, 61 detainees remain.The Defense Department estimates that the phaseout plan, compared with keeping Guanténamo open, would generate savings of more than $300 million.But opponents warn that no one can put a price on American lives that are potentially put at risk with this action. Civilian officials, as well as those within the military, have been warning that a number of these hardened criminals will return to the battlefield and resume their war against the West.One example is Ibrahim Qosi, who was transferred from Gitmo in 2012 and is now an al-Qaida leader in Yemen.Rep. Ed Royce, a California Republican who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee, called the latest group of detainees released as "hardened terrorists" who will be a threat for years.According to New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, the three Afghan and three Yemeni prisoners set free are considered to be "among the worst" the detention camp facility had to offer. Citing a Department of Defense report, she noted the newly released terrorists include people who fought on the front lines against U.S. and other coalition forces, targeted U.S. personnel with explosives, served as bin Laden bodyguards, and acted as al-Qaida IED experts.When a reporter last week asked State Department spokesman Mark Toner if these detainees could pose to U.S. national security, he admitted that nothing is 100 percent foolproof and there have been "very few cases a return to the battlefield."The president had earlier stated that "only a handful" of Gitmo detainees has returned to the battlefield. Stephen Hayes at The Weekly Standard dissected those lowball numbers, and challenged the assertion that only low-level individuals were being released. He said of the 653 released at that time, 196 were either confirmed or suspected recidivists.According to the president's own Director of National Intelligence, 117 former detainees are confirmed of returning to terror and 79 more detainees are suspected of returning to the fight. That's a confirmed recidivism rate of 18 percent and a confirmed-suspected recidivism rate of 30 percent."Based on trends identified during the past 11 years, we assess that some detainees currently at GTMO will seek to re-engage in terrorist or insurgent activities after they are transferred," the DNI's report stated.When detainees who were released from Gitmo return to terrorism, the most extreme consequence is that innocent people will die, including Americans.The news value judgment of the liberal media regarding last week's Gitmo release is hard to take. When Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte and his drunken teammates trashed a bathroom and then lied to the world, the press pounced on the story like wild dogs. The swimmers embarrassed themselves, shamed America and tarnished the Olympics by taking the spotlight away from other world-class athletes who proudly represented their countries.There was minimal damage in the U.S. swimmers' night on the town in Rio and no one was hurt but the reputations and potential endorsement value of the swimmers - particularly Lochte's - took a major hit. The press milked this story all week while the release of the Gitmo detainees, which Rep. Royce called hardened terrorists, received minimal news coverage.As the Lochte story fades, the Guanténamo Bay prisoner release is certain to have long-range life-or-death consequences. Unfortunately, the next time we may hear about these evil masterminds is when they are linked to a terrorist attack or when a kidnapped Westerner is publicly beheaded.By Jim Zbick |

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