Former Guantanamo detainees are linked to the deaths of how many Americans?

Brett T. | 9:22 PM on June 08, 2016

One of Barack Obama’s very first acts as president was to set a one-year deadline for the closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba. Having rounded third and heading for his new home in Chicago, Obama has dispatched a team to find homes for detainees on American soil.

Though he continually claims that Gitmo is a recruiting tool for Islamic extremists, the president doesn’t often speak about what happens to detainees who are released overseas (although the U.S. government did thank Saudi Arabia for recently taking 9 prisoners off our hands and ensuring their humane treatment).

"… killing about a half-dozen Americans."
Big scoop from @adamgoldmanwp and @missy_ryan:https://t.co/AMWFvWZc81

— John Woodrow Cox (@JohnWoodrowCox) June 9, 2016

So what’s this now? According to the Washington Post, it turns out that former detainees are using their newfound freedom to reenlist.

From @adamgoldmanwp & me: US believes released GTMO detainees responsible for death of approx a half dozen Americans https://t.co/adCndLbd0l

— Missy Ryan (@missy_ryan) June 8, 2016

The Post reports:

The Obama administration believes that about 12 detainees released from the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have launched attacks against U.S. or allied forces in Afghanistan, killing about a half-dozen Americans, according to current and former U.S. officials.

In March, a senior Pentagon official made a startling admission to lawmakers when he acknowledged that former Guantanamo inmates were responsible for the deaths of Americans overseas.

…

… while most of the incidents were directed at military personnel, the dead also included one American civilian: a female aid worker who died in Afghanistan in 2008.