Once a suspected terrorist always a … terrorist?

According to the Obama administration, about 12 former Guantanamo Bay inmates are suspected of having returned to being loyal fighters for militant terrorist extremist groups. Six months ago that number was only six.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has confirmed that (as of January 15) seven have indeed rejoined their terror associates and are officially a threat to the United State and its allies once again.

The same office also reports that 111 of 532 prisoners released by George W. Bush have been confirmed to have returned as militants, with another 74 suspected of doing so.

Even so, this alarming fact released recently will most likely serve as a serious monkey wrench in Obama’s public effort to close the Cuban prison once and for all, as the data is obvious readymade ammunition for Republican lawmakers who are vehemently opposed to both shutting down the facility and moving the remaining inmates (who number under 100) to locations within the United States.

Most of the detainees have gone without a trial for more than a decade.

This from Reuters:

The closure plan, drawn up by the Pentagon and which requires approval by Congress, proposes 13 potential sites on U.S. soil to hold 30-60 detainees in maximum-security prisons.

The closure plan faces strong opposition from lawmakers who do not want detainees transferred to the United States. The United States took control of part of Guantanamo Bay in Cuba in 1903 under a treaty with the Havana government.

Obama has pressed the Republican-led legislature to give his proposal a “fair hearing” and said he did not want to pass the issue to his successor in January. He is also considering executive action to close the facility.

Republican Representative Ed Royce, chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced a measure that would force the administration to publicize plans for transfers from Guantanamo.

Four other Republicans, Senators Richard Burr, Kelly Ayotte, Tom Cotton and presidential hopeful Marco Rubio, also introduced a bill that would bar Obama from returning the naval base at Guantanamo to Cuba without authorization from Congress.