French Court Gives Jihadists Foot-soldiers their own “Cultural Exception”

John Rosenthal reports:

Last Tuesday, a Parisian appeals court overturned the convictions of five former Guantanamo inmates who had been found guilty on terrorist conspiracy charges in 2007. The development should give pause to wonder not only about the wisdom of plans to transfer Guantanamo inmates to European countries, but more fundamentally about the very idea of treating the “disposition” of Guantanamo inmates as an issue for civilian courts, whether in the US or abroad. The five French Gitmo detainees were repatriated to France in 2004 and 2005. They were tried and convicted on charges of belonging to a “criminal association formed for the purpose of undertaking a terrorist act.” The definition of this crime in French law is exceptionally broad. Not only does it permit what are, in effect, preventive detentions, but a suspect may be convicted by virtue of merely having had “regular contact” [relations habituelles] with one or more other persons who form part of such a terrorist enterprise.

And apparently that’s the favor they say they’re going to do for America, after telling us that they’ve councilled us on the wrongness of defending ourselves. They find a court that will release terrorists into the population, and we’re considered unwise and more dangerous.

The five former Gitmo detainees, however, did not merely have casual contact with members of a terror group. All five have admitted to receiving military training in Al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan. They were taken prisoner in the Afghan-Pakistani border region in late 2001, while fleeing the Battle of Tora-Bora

But somehow in the diseased minds of “the peace camp”, this doesn’t make them prisoners of war.



Leftist protesting nonsensically for the western liberal world to disarm itself outside a military equipment trade fair on 11-Sept-2001, while the attacks were taking place.