Once Upon a Time, There Was ‘Guantanamo’

Guantanamo’s Mahmoud Mujahid, Yemeni al-Qaida militant and alleged former bodyguard to Osama bin Laden, captured by the Americans in 2002, could soon be out on bail. The final decision has yet to be made, but this was announced yesterday by David Remes, a spokesperson for the Pentagon: “There is no justification for holding him. After 12 years at Guantanamo, it is time to reunite him with his family.”

Then again, bin Laden is already dead. The committee on Guantanamo, called by Obama at the beginning of his first term in 2009, back when he still intended to keep his campaign promise to immediately close down the large prison camp for terrorists, has already spoken on the prisoner’s non-dangerous nature.

Bin Laden’s former bodyguard cannot even be tried in civilian or military court. He was detained because of his role — most likely an alleged one since there are no official duties in a secret terrorist movement — at the time he was captured, but there has not been any evidence gathered legally on his anti-American activities. However, either for the sake of security or because of bureaucratic red tape, over these last five years, Mahmoud Mujahid’s name has remained on the list of the most dangerous detainees. In other words, he was unreleasable. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have always challenged Guantanamo for arbitrary detention, without trial or evidence, in extra-judiciary territory. Within a logic that is essentially legalistic, the organizations for the defense of human rights are perfectly right.

Provided we agree to equate a terrorist with an international criminal, the problem lies in understanding where crime ends and war begins. A criminal gets arrested, his rights are respected and he is considered innocent until proven guilty, deprived of his freedom — or life — only after conviction, justified through evidence and witnesses. An enemy must be fought instead, without even asking his name: A moment’s hesitation and it will be the enemy that kills you, your friends and loved ones. These are two very different approaches. Today, it seems normal for an alleged bodyguard of a deceased terrorist who has been dead for two years to return to freedom. His is simply a case of judicial malpractice, to be repaired lavishly and through a thousand pardons.

Provided we consider a terrorist to be a criminal … if, instead, we consider him an abnormal combatant in a real war — dirty, asymmetric, undeclared, but still a war — the very idea of trying a terrorist, downright freeing him, becomes absurd and almost suicidal because the war against al-Qaida is far from over. It is true that he is a minor figure in the enemy line-up, but he is nevertheless a man ready to return to Yemen with an enviable track record: 12 years in the hands of “infidels,” a man of unshakable faith, coming from the first generation of Jihadist fighters, personally trusted by bin Laden.

Al-Qaida in Yemen is very well established, widespread and armed, competes with the regular army for control of the country, sends combatants and arms into Somalia and Syria, and seeks to destabilize Saudi Arabia. Plus, among the men released from Guantanamo in recent years, the recidivism rate has always been very high. Everything comes down to a choice of perception: criminal or enemy? The United States, which in the aftermath of 9/11 would have considered him an enemy, now considers him an alleged criminal arrested without evidence, and therefore worthy of being “reunited with his family.”

One makes what one wants of one’s future … then again, the front pages of American newspapers are filled with news of “Bridgegate,” the new scandal of domestic politics — actually, local — caused by zealous officials loyal to Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, who decided to close down two lanes of a bridge in order to take revenge against a local administration, causing an automotive Armageddon. This is the only news that really interests Americans these days, along with the bitter cold and a labor market that is growing much more slowly than was predicted. Al-Qaida has turned Syria and Iraq upside down, conquering Ramadi and Fallujah, but that is no longer of any interest: It is just “foreign news,” thrilling only to people in the trade. Go ahead, go back to being free, Mr. Mujahid … until the next attack.