Obama says that we should follow the prosecution model used after the 1993 WTC bombing. He says that Guantanamo is a tool for recruiting terrorist. Obama said,  

(Guantanamo has) given a huge boost to terrorist recruitment in countries that say, ‘Look, this is how the United States treats Muslims.’

He could have a point here. If I was in Saudi Arabia living under Wahhabi rule, I might be thinking a long Carribean visit would be nice.

All jokes aside…I think he is missing a very important point. After the 1993 bombing, we picked up the minor players and put them in jail. The masterminds stayed untouched. Eventually, they came back on 9/11. All the hijackers are dead. Who are we to prosecute?

Bush rightly concluded that the best way to stop future attacks is to go on the offensive against countries that give safe havens to those who would attack us. Obama can argue that the jury is still out on whether Bush’s approach will work long term or that Iraq was not one of those countries, but I think he is way off base suggesting that the way we handled the 1993 bombing was a success.

UPDATE: Confederate Yankee points out that Obama is “dead wrong”.

Yasin fled the United States after the bombing to Iraq, and lived as Saddam Hussein’s guest in Baghdad until the invasion. He is still free, and wanted by the FBI.

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