Funny Numbers: the New York Times terror report

By Ken Silverstein

From Talkingpointsmemo:

We’ve gotten our hands on the Pentagon report on which the New York Times based its front-pager last week asserting that 1 in 7 Guantanamo detainees “returned” to terrorism. You can read the document, which the DOD made available to reporters today, here.

The bottom line: Those who have counseled skepticism about the DOD numbers would seem to be vindicated by the actual report.

The report does indeed use the formulation “reengaged” in terrorism. This was the same formulation the Times’ Elisabeth Bumiller used in her front-page story — until the online version of it was changed. But the Pentagon report does not attempt to establish the original status of the detainees it claims “reengaged” in terrorism. It seems to simply not consider the possibility that, as has been reported by McClatchy, innocent men ended up in Gitmo, and some were radicalized during their imprisonment.