Here, you are urged and encouraged to run your mouths about something important.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Former Gitmo Detainees, Mujahedeen Leading Libyan Rebels

Perhaps the only thing worse than Gadhafi running Libya would be the Muslim Brotherhood running it. Unfortunately for Americans, our military effort over there is aiding in the latter becoming a reality. The more involved we get, the more obvious it becomes. Now it's learned that an Islamic preacher who trained in eastern Afghanistan; a former fighter with the Libyan Mujahedeen; and a guy who spent six years in Gitmo are all leading in the rebels' effort to topple Gadhafi.

DARNA, Libya—Two former Afghan Mujahedeen and a six-year detainee at Guantanamo Bay have stepped to the fore of this city's military campaign, training new recruits for the front and to protect the city from infiltrators loyal to Col. Moammar Gadhafi.

The presence of Islamists like these amid the opposition has raised concerns, among some fellow rebels as well as their Western allies, that the goal of some Libyan fighters in battling Col. Gadhafi is to propagate Islamist extremism.

Abdel Hakim al-Hasady, an influential Islamic preacher and high-school teacher who spent five years at a training camp in eastern Afghanistan, oversees the recruitment, training and deployment of about 300 rebel fighters from Darna.

Mr. Hasady's field commander on the front lines is Salah al-Barrani, a former fighter from the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, or LIFG, which was formed in the 1990s by Libyan mujahedeen returning home after helping to drive the Soviets from Afghanistan and dedicated to ousting Mr. Gadhafi from power.

Sufyan Ben Qumu, a Libyan army veteran who worked for Osama bin Laden's holding company in Sudan and later for an al Qaeda-linked charity in Afghanistan, is training many of the city's rebel recruits.

Both Messrs. Hasady and Ben Qumu were picked up by Pakistani authorities after the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and were turned over to the U.S. Mr. Hasady was released to Libyan custody two months later. Mr. Ben Qumu spent six years at Guantanamo Bay before he was turned over to Libyan custody in 2007.

It's a widely held belief that if Gadhafi stays in power, Barack Obama will suffer grave political damage. If Gadhafi is removed from power, the United States could be placed in more actual danger as the Muslim Brotherhood is almost certain to fill the void. As the Brotherhood consolidates power in Egypt, control of Libya, which borders Egypt to the west is critical to the Brotherhood. The question that continues to dog clear-thinking people is: Why does this administration continue to implement policies that favor the Muslim Brotherhood?