Osama driver goes home
posted at 7:52 am on November 25, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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The US has released Salim Hamdan, Osama bin Laden’s former driver, to serve out the rest of the sentence he received from a military tribunal earlier this year. Hamdan helped change the direction of detention in the war on terror with his appeals in the federal court system and embarrassed the Pentagon by getting a light sentence and avoiding conviction on the most serious charges brought against him:
Former Osama bin Laden driver Salim Hamdan is being transferred from the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, back to his home country of Yemen, a senior defense official said Monday.
Hamdan was convicted of aiding al-Qaida in August and sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison. He would be eligible for release in January with credit for time served.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter, said Hamdan will serve out the remainder of his sentence in Yemen.
I wouldn’t bet on that. Yemen has a habit of either releasing terrorists on their own recognizance or allowing them to “escape”. Intel agents believe that al-Qaeda has started to regroup in Yemen, and Hamdan may find a new job if the government there decides to treat him as kindly as they have other suspected AQ operatives.
The Bush administration had little choice, however. His light sentence of 66 months would have meant Hamdan would have walked away free in January. The Pentagon insists that it has the right to keep detainees in custody if the DoD determines that they represent a danger to the US. That may sound good in theory, but the Bush administration didn’t look enthusiastic about telling that to a federal judge, and by the end of January the new President, Barack Obama, would have been calling those shots anyway.
As I wrote in August, it may be that the sentence accurately reflected Hamdan’s status with AQ as just a flunky with a map and a car. Hopefully, we’ll see that when Yemen lets him run free within minutes of his arrival. Either way, unfortunately, we’re going to find out, and probably sooner than later.
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It’s part of our plan…see we follow the guy home and when he gets to obama’s house we…….ummm probably not huh?
kanda on November 25, 2008 at 7:55 AM
sorry it should be osama’s house
kanda on November 25, 2008 at 7:55 AM
Great minds think alike.
Browncoatone on November 25, 2008 at 7:57 AM
“baby you can drive my car yes i’m gonna be a star”
the_nile on November 25, 2008 at 8:00 AM
I made the same mistake reading the headline and couldn’t figure out why Obama’s driver going home would be news. It’s gonna be a long 4 years.
Dee2008 on November 25, 2008 at 8:00 AM
Maybe they knocked him out and put a tracking chip in him.
Hey, I can dream, can’t I?
kingsjester on November 25, 2008 at 8:03 AM
The sword in the right hand of Justice has been replaced with a get out of jail free card.
Limerick on November 25, 2008 at 8:11 AM
It looks like our Justice system has become a tool for the terrorists. Useful Idiots, they call them…..
DL13 on November 25, 2008 at 8:13 AM
Who gave him the light sentence? A Clinton appointee, no doubt. Obama will give us more of that ilk.
jgapinoy on November 25, 2008 at 8:18 AM
I have a feeling we will be reading about him again, very soon. Hopefully it will be his obituary.
Zorro on November 25, 2008 at 8:18 AM
He’ll be teaching ethics as the newest tenured professor in Chicago before you know it.
Guardian on November 25, 2008 at 8:20 AM
Is it me or does that picture bug you too?
How do they pick these shots. That looks like a picture of friendly uncle Akeem.
Isn’t there a mug shot of this guy? Not even one?
Dpet on November 25, 2008 at 8:21 AM
You have a friendly uncle Akeem too?
Tzetzes on November 25, 2008 at 8:35 AM
Next time, don’t take him prisoner.
OldEnglish on November 25, 2008 at 8:36 AM
The Constitution of the United States only applies to American Citizens. Resident Aliens are governed by immigration laws. Enemy Combatants are covered by the Hague Convention and the law of war. What exactly is it that the Supreme Court doesn’t understand?
By the way, aren’t people who sneak into a country during a time of war classified as spies or saboteurs?
Tommy_G on November 25, 2008 at 8:43 AM
Well, the world needs ditch diggers, too.
Shark Sandwich on November 25, 2008 at 8:47 AM
Isn’t Yemen where prisoners are always breaking out of prison? I’m unimpressed.
Blake on November 25, 2008 at 9:02 AM
Uh, no. The Constitution uses the word “citizen” in many places, but “person(s)” in others. The original text refers to “privileges and immunities” of citizens, which suggest that those same privileges and immunities to not apply to non-citizen persons. But the amendments that guarantee the right to trial by jury, due process, etc., use the more inclusive term “person” rather than “citizen”.
What exactly is it that you don’t understand?
The Monster on November 25, 2008 at 9:05 AM
Abortion on Demand being a choice, liberal thinking, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decisions on most cases that come before them are three that quickly come to mind. By the way the first seven words of the Constitution are, “We the People of the United States”. Sounds pretty self evident to me.
Tommy_G on November 25, 2008 at 9:25 AM
Hey it’s a long flight from Cuba to Yemen. Lots of ocean along the way. Anything could happen, you know. Just saying.
KillerKane on November 25, 2008 at 9:27 AM
After the gifts, the hugs and the going-away party, what he’ll really miss most about Gitmo is the pheasant under glass and rice pilaf.
whitetop on November 25, 2008 at 9:37 AM
Could be worse. He could have been forced to take a car ride with Ted Kennedy.
whitetop on November 25, 2008 at 9:38 AM
Hey it’s an easy mistake to make. One is intent on destroying the American way of life as we know it and the other is an international terrorist.
highhopes on November 25, 2008 at 9:39 AM
Oops! He was accidentally transferred to the Angola State Penitentiary in Louisiana. How ever could that have happened?
Or, send him, again “accidentally”, to Ryker’s Island. Or drop him off at a NYPD station. I’m sure they would take good care of him.
KillerKane on November 25, 2008 at 9:47 AM
I’ve been trying to go with “bin Laden” any time there is the chance of that mistake, and “Berry” for the reverse.
Count to 10 on November 25, 2008 at 10:03 AM
Look at the bright side. At least in Yemen he will always have a Predator on his shoulder. Heh!
ronsfi on November 25, 2008 at 10:06 AM
I hear we are going to prosecute Osama’s gardener & possibly his personal chef. We leave no rock unturned.
portlandon on November 25, 2008 at 10:30 AM
Non sequitur. You made a ridiculous statement about the Constitution only applying to citizens, and that’s how you try to wiggle out of it?
The Monster on November 25, 2008 at 10:36 AM
Historically, the only right a ununiformed combatant has, is to be lined up in front of a firing squad.
Johan Klaus on November 25, 2008 at 11:09 AM
This is exactly right. Keep these vermin on the battlefield, bring in the interrogators, then shoot them. We won’t need Gitmo.
Oh, and don’t tell Obambi.
MrLynn on November 25, 2008 at 11:21 AM
Now do you think al-Qaida is sitting around praising the United States for being kind, and liberal, and soft, and generous?
Or do you think they are laughing their asses off, and are going to throw Salim Hamdan the biggest party of his life before re-arming him and sending him off to take up arms against the United States?
Seven Percent Solution on November 25, 2008 at 12:18 PM
…SS Cole.
labrat on November 25, 2008 at 1:04 PM
I know I shouldn’t find anything humorous about this. But the idiotic notion that this guy could be “just” a driver, and not a member of the organization?
It’s like what Dennis Miller said: “No ‘innocent civilians’ ever get within a hundred yards of this guy.”
logis on November 25, 2008 at 1:20 PM
He will show up again–driving a car bomb into an embassy or market or military camp.
***
I like the old West wanted posters–REWARD–JESSE JAMES–WANTED DEAD ($5000.) OR ALIVE ($1000.) Leave any armed enemy combatant dead on the battlefield and send him to his just reward–79 virgin camels and hell. Our legal system has no way to sort out the battlefield fog of war.
***
John Bibb
rocketman on November 25, 2008 at 1:27 PM
Doesn’t he need vaccinations before he travels to another country? *cough*RFChip*cough*
- The Cat
MirCat on November 25, 2008 at 2:04 PM
I hope a slow-acting toxin sends him to his Maker before he kills again.
(Just like what happened to Mohammad, their pedophile warlord source.)
profitsbeard on November 25, 2008 at 6:37 PM
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