About that Saudi Rehabilitation Program - The Weekly Standard
About that Saudi Rehabilitation Program
The Obama administration is, according to the Washington Post, still discussing the possibility of sending at least some (it is not clear how many) of the 98 Yemeni detainees held at Gitmo to Saudi Arabia. The administration has previously floated the idea of having the Yemenis reeducated in the Saudis’ rehabilitation program for jihadists. The only real question is: Why?
At least three problems come immediately to mind.
First, the Saudis have rejected previous overtures in this vein on multiple occasions. This likely indicates that the Saudis themselves don’t think this is such a good idea. And the administration will almost certainly have to spend some of its political capital to convince them otherwise. The United States regularly tries to get the Saudis to do more with respect to shutting down terrorism and extremism financing. Asking the Saudis to watch over citizens of another country, when their cooperation on so many other related matters is uneven, is a bit of a stretch.
Second, the Saudi rehabilitation program is clearly not as effective as was initially claimed. Earlier this year, the Saudis reported that 11 of the Kingdom’s 85 most wanted terrorists were former Gitmo detainees who were “rehabilitated” in the program. (One has since reentered Saudi custody.) One of these 11 is now a prominent leader of al Qaeda’s arm on the Arabian Peninsula. That same al Qaeda branch is the chief reason the Obama administration does not want to send the Yemenis back to their home country. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is particularly strong in Yemen. Besides the 11 former Gitmo detainees, dozens of other terrorists placed on Saudi Arabia’s most wanted list had also been “rehabilitated.”
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The Obama administration is, according to the Washington Post, still discussing the possibility of sending at least some (it is not clear how many) of the 98 Yemeni detainees held at Gitmo to Saudi Arabia. The administration has previously floated the idea of having the Yemenis reeducated in the Saudis’ rehabilitation program for jihadists. The only real question is: Why?
At least three problems come immediately to mind.
First, the Saudis have rejected previous overtures in this vein on multiple occasions. This likely indicates that the Saudis themselves don’t think this is such a good idea. And the administration will almost certainly have to spend some of its political capital to convince them otherwise. The United States regularly tries to get the Saudis to do more with respect to shutting down terrorism and extremism financing. Asking the Saudis to watch over citizens of another country, when their cooperation on so many other related matters is uneven, is a bit of a stretch.
Second, the Saudi rehabilitation program is clearly not as effective as was initially claimed. Earlier this year, the Saudis reported that 11 of the Kingdom’s 85 most wanted terrorists were former Gitmo detainees who were “rehabilitated” in the program. (One has since reentered Saudi custody.) One of these 11 is now a prominent leader of al Qaeda’s arm on the Arabian Peninsula. That same al Qaeda branch is the chief reason the Obama administration does not want to send the Yemenis back to their home country. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is particularly strong in Yemen. Besides the 11 former Gitmo detainees, dozens of other terrorists placed on Saudi Arabia’s most wanted list had also been “rehabilitated.”
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posted by Phil Smith at
10:26 AM
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