Pentagon's terror 'recidivism' claims blasted as 'propaganda' David Edwards and Stephen C. Webster

Published: Friday January 23, 2009





Print This Email This Ever wonder how many of President Bush's terror war detainees were released, only to "return to the fight"?



"Their numbers have changed from 20, to 12, to seven, to more than five, to two, to a couple, to a few, 25, 29, 12, and then 24," quoted Keith Olbermann on Thursday's edition of Countdown.



The latest figure, 61, which was carried unchallenged by CNN, the MSNBC host noted, appears to be nothing but "propaganda."



A study published by Seton Hall Law Professor Mark Denbeaux on Jan. 15 finds the Pentagon wrongly altered its figures on terrorist 'recidivism' 43 times, with the latest figure being "the most egregiously so."



Denbeaux first shared his findings a week prior with MSNBC host Rachael Maddow.



"Once again, theyve failed to identify names, numbers, dates, times, places, or acts upon which their report relies," the professor wrote. "Every time they have been required to identify the parties, the DOD has been forced to retract their false IDs and their numbers. They have included people who have never even set foot in Guantánamomuch less were they released from there."



"They have counted people as 'returning to the fight' for their having written an Op-ed piece in the New York Times and for their having appeared in a documentary exhibited at the Cannes Film Festival. The DOD has revised and retracted their internally conflicting definitions, criteria, and their numbers so often that they have ceased to have any meaningexcept as an effort to sway public opinion by painting a false portrait of the supposed dangers of these men."



"... All of which are seriously undercut by the DoD statement that 'they do not track' former detainees," concludes Professor Denbeaux.



"So, here's a wild guess," said Olbermann. "The administration just made the numbers up, like Joe McCarthy used to."



This video is from MSNBC's Countdown, broadcast Jan. 22, 2009.









Download video via RawReplay.com









