Most liberal bloggers want to close Guantanamo, and some even want to make those "poor guys in Gitmo" some baba ghanoush. That aspiring terrorist's chef is the "Phoenix Woman" at Firedoglake, who complained about Rudy Giuliani ("everyone's favorite would-be dictator") on MSNBC's Morning Joe. Rudy's offense was citing the New York Times for reporting on a released Guantanamo detainee who is now deputy al-Qaeda commander in Yemen. But she complained:
Again, no names, facts, figures from the torturemongers. Just scare statements. And a chuckle from Rudy as he contemplates the possible deaths of innocents.
Here's the names and facts from the New York Times:
The militant, Said Ali al-Shihri, is suspected of involvement in a deadly bombing of the United States Embassy in Yemen’s capital, Sana, in September. He was released to Saudi Arabia in 2007 and passed through a Saudi rehabilitation program for former jihadists before resurfacing with Al Qaeda in Yemen.
There's more on this story from Clay Waters at TimesWatch. "Phoenix Woman" insists to the world that the "vast majority" of the Gitmo detainees are "certainly innocent" and deserving of her talents in the kitchen:
Oh, and as Bob Cesca has pointed out, nobody is pushing to immediately release all of Guantanamo's inmates; instead, they will be transferred to other prison facilities while they receive the due process that was denied them for so many years. Furthermore, as studies by Seton Hall and Amnesty International have shown, the vast majority of the detainees are almost certainly innocent. Why should Rudy and the other torturemongers fear due process that would prove this?
Sorry about this not being a straight cooking column today, folks. Tell you what -- let's talk about the foods we'd cook for the poor guys in Gitmo, if we could. (Hummus, falafel and baba ganoush should be high on the list of meals they miss.)
