Detainees participate in an early morning prayer session at Camp IV at the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, on August 5, 2009. (Reuters)
How Guantanamo Bay's Existence Helps Al-Qaeda Recruit More Terrorists -- Thérèse Postel, The Atlantic
It holds cleared detainees, and it's become a rallying point in jihadist propaganda.
Guantanamo Bay has entered headlines again as at least 42 inmates are participating in a hunger strike to protest their continued detention. But those 42 are only part of the ongoing story.
There are still 166 prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay.
Eighty-six of these individuals have been cleared for release.
Forty-six others are being held "without enough evidence" to prosecute, but are still " too dangerous to transfer."
Only six people being held at Guantanamo Bay are facing formal charges.
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My Comment: Al Qaeda existed .... and had no problem recruiting thousands .... long before the prison at Guantanamo Bay was opened. If anything .... after a decade of counter-terrorism operations Al Qaeda (as an operational force) is now just a shadow of it's former self. The ones who are getting the attention are the regional Al Qaeda affiliates .... in Syria, Yemen, Mali, etc.. .... and their focus is on their region and not launching a jihad against the West.