502 Comments

An interesting piece . . . if only to show, once again, that human beings have the spiritual strength to withstand years of dehumanization.

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Seriously??!! TFP chose TODAY for this article?

Is this the best they could come up with to honor & remember the 3,000 killed on Sept. 11th, and the thousands of friend, family members, 1st responders, citizens who still suffer today?

Will they post anything on Jan. 6th about the long & cruel imprisonment of some of the

“innocent people” held as prisoners who were at the J6 riots, being abused & denied their rights to a speedy trial?

There is plenty of misuse/abuse of political power to go around, in my humble opinion. Report on the “travesty of Justice/injustice” yes, but your timing (except perhaps to the WOKE Left) is offensive.

Do better, TFP, please! 9/11 is STILL a very raw memory for MANY Americans!

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The FP forgot to include statistics about the recidivism rate of those released from Gitmo--well done! And I will repeat the sentiment: really bad taste to publish this on any day let alone 9/11. I'll move on now.

“They didn’t apologize, but it’s my right to ask for an apology,” Rabbani told me. “I missed my family’s life, my son’s life, my life—21 years.”

Hmmm...this dude and every other there at Gitmo can go fuck themselves. And for those who purchased one of these Gitmo pieces: there are probably some of Hitler's left for sale as well. What absolute embarrassing and unprincipled pieces of shit you are.

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This kind of journalism is exactly why I subscribe to TFP. 22 years after the horror of 9/11 and the impacts - far and wide, in all their complexity - still as raw. The main subject of the piece, Rabbani, spent 18.5 years in Gitmo and was released without charge, without a single bit of evidence to justify him being there. Art was his therapy, his way of surviving as it said it the piece - I'm glad he found it.

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Shame on you.

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President Roosevelt had no problem with the trials and executions of German sabboteurs.

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Precisely--they were tried. A grand total of four Gitmo detainees have been tried. This was our government's choice. They feared what our own courts would make of kidnapping and "enhanced interrogation."

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Really glad I got to these comments a day late. I think the discussion and variety of commenters is one of the most interesting I’ve seen.

But you really didn’t need to do this on Sept 11. Maybe Sept 10.

A better idea would be about what the Dept of Homeland Security/NSA/Patriot Act bequeathed to us.

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Who cares!!!!!!!!! Some of these detainees were released and came back to attack us. Some of these prisoners of war can never be proven guilty in our courts.....with all that is needed for that proof. That is why Clinton never even bothered to arrest Osama Bin Laden when he had the chance.

It was war...if you look guilty....you are guilty.....because it could cost us our lives.

What you are saying on 9-11, with this article is stupid......maybe on another day. Read the damn room!!!!

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Everyone of the Guantanamo prisoners who had even the slightest credible claim to having been "in the wrong place at the wrong time" were paroled/repatriated many years ago. The folks that are left, whether they can be convicted under civilian rules of evidence or not, are villains, terrorists and therefore prisoners of war. But it's nice that they found some inner peace making art. Hopefully, for those that have been released, they can focus on that rather than on killing innocents in the name of Jihad.

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I can only hope that the Trump wing-nuts who regularly annoy me in the Comments here will indeed unsubscribe and exit the premises. Nothing like demonizing people who were never freaking CONVICTED of anything to show the world what we're made of. Hang in there, Bari, I still love you.

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Cool well if the dissenters go she's just replicated every other MSM outlet. With all of their "we good they bad" sheep followers.

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From a Trump-wing-nut to you.....they were "convicted" --- when they decided they were worth hunting down and thrown in Gitmo. They should have been shot on site and not taken to Gitmo. Take a page out of the Jewish retaliation for the 1972 Olympic shootings. It was "war"...not shoplifting at Walmart.

Sit around and worry about justice for these terrorists..........please.....worry about someone who belongs in our justice system --- namely Trump. Do you see the difference?? Probably not.

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“What kind of people do this to other people?” Oh, you mean what kind of people tie explosives to children and send them into crowded markets to explode themselves? What kind of people hijack airplanes and fly them into occupied skyscrapers? What kind of people behead journalists? That kind of people?

I believe in due process and in the humane treatment of prisoners, but brutal terrorists deserve harsh treatment, including effective interrogation techniques and long sentences. One terrorist behind bars means one less out on the streets, free to resume his barbarous ways. Some released terrorists have done exactly that.

I’m with the commenters who are appalled that this touchy-feely story about a suspected Muslim terrorist released from Gitmo was published on 9/11. “Tone deaf” is an apt way of describing that decision.

And I’m also struck by the fact that many January 6 detainees are still awaiting their days in court, or have been sentenced to long stretches for little more than simply entering the building after it was opened to them. Where’s the sob story about their plight?

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I remain convinced that Islamic jihadis are a real threat to world civilization. However, I must agree that much of what has happened at Gitmo cannot be justified in retrospect. I would like to see an independent commission to investigate and a first-rate writer to publish a book on the whole 20+ years of Gitmo. We must pursue justice but avoid keeping suspects in yearlong limbo beyond our laws and international oversight. Thanks for this report.

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I’m going to go out on a limb to say to everyone who’s comment was to The FP, ‘Your picked today of all days to post this article’ yes they did - and they knew it was 9/11. Well done detectives. And just to be clear if you read most the article, no one they mentioned and highlighted was actually convicted of anything. Innocent until proven guilty, do we still believe in that? The Americans who died, were innocent, and it was tragic. And IF - IF these men are also innocent we’re only furthering this inhuman tragedy.

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Remind me again of where I am

Huff Post?

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I was very young - third grade - when 9/11 happened, but I still remember it. Most years, teachers had us write an essay on where we were on 9/11, so I’ve had to recall the details repeatedly. I think that’s a good thing though. It’s not something we should ever forget. I’ve met people who were in the building and some that were in the streets of New York when this happened. My first job out of college, I worked with a man who would have been inside the second tower that day had he not had a family emergency. He showed me the key to his office that he has still kept on him every day since so that he would never forget. I can’t imagine he would appreciate this piece, particularly not on the anniversary of the deaths of many he cared about. All stories deserve to be told, but this was absolutely not the day to tell this story.

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The writer should work for NPR not the free press.

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