Rehab for Terrorists: Crayons, Finger Paints

Two men suspected of helping to plan the possible al-Qaida plot to detonate explosives on a Northwest Airlines jet over Detroit on Christmas Day were released from Guantanamo Bay detention facility in 2007, and at least one of them was apparently sent to Saudi Arabia for an "art therapy rehabilitation program" that involves crayons and finger-painting.

We couldn't make this stuff up if we tried.

The Saudi Arabian government claims the art therapy program has helped rehabilitate more than 700 terrorists, according to an ABC News investigative report, which is difficult to believe. But coloring pretty pictures hasn't rehabilitated all of the program's alumni. Muhammad Attik al-Harbi, a former Gitmo prisoner, was released and sent to Saudi Arabia for one of the art re-education programs. After being released from the program he went back to terrorism, reportedly taking a leadership role for al-Qaida — some sources claim he was involved in plotting the failed bombing of the Northwest jet.

Muhammad Attik al-Harbi is just one of many examples of released terrorists entering into laughable rehabilitation programs meant to reprogram their violent ways.

But the joke is on the American people because these "rehabilitated" terrorists often find their way right back to the front lines of al-Qaida, planning mass murders.

To make matters worse, the Obama administration is determined to close Guantanamo this year without a clear direction as to where to send the prisoners. Two weeks ago, the Obama administration repatriated a half-dozen Gitmo prisoners to Yemen — the country where Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab claims he was trained to detonate the bomb on the Detroit flight.

It's problematic when terrorists, or even terrorism suspects, are being released into such ludicrous programs. If we are going to entrust potentially dangerous terrorism suspects to silly rehab efforts, why not start sending American prisoners convicted of drug-related offenses to art rehab programs? It would be a lot safer and save a lot of money.

Sadly, this fiasco sounds a lot like a joke, but it is really a mockery — and yet another example of government ineptness.

REPRINTED FROM THE NEW BERN SUN JOURNAL.

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