Reality intrudes on plans to close Gitmo

Politico notes that the Christmas bombing plot may “complicate” plans to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. The problem is this: (1) the Obama administration plans to send more than 80 Gitmo detainees to Yemen but (2) evidence indicates that the Nigerian man who tried tried to blow up a plane as it landed in Detroit spent time in Yemen and may have been fitted with customized, explosive-laden clothing there.
Sending detainees to Yemen has always been a ridiculous idea. The government there is weak and unstable. Yemen is a haven for al Qaeda members and is the scene of two separate insurgencies. Sending captured terrorists there is a bit like sending them to pre-surge Iraq.
But it took the attempted Christmas day bombing to drive home the point so that even Democrats can see it. Thus, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson is now saying that “at a minimum. . .whatever we were about to do we at least have to scrub it again from top to bottom.” To that end, Thompson intends to hold hearings on the Christmas day bombing attempt next month.