10 of Gitmo's bloodiest alumni: Column

Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud Al Qosi: A Sudanese terrorist detained in 2002 and transferred to Sudan in 2012. According to an 11-page classified assessment of Qosi from Joint Task Force Guantánamo obtained by WikiLeaks, al Qosi is “an admitted member of alQaeda and one of (Usama bin Laden's) most trusted associates and a veteran bodyguard." He was rated as a “high risk” for returning to terrorism if released. Al Qosi is now a senior leader in al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, as well as one of the group's public spokesmen.

Yousef Mohammed al Shihri: A Saudi-born terrorist detained at Gitmo in 2002. He was transferred back to Saudi Arabia in 2007. He died in an Oct. 13, 2009, shootout with Saudi police while attempting to commit a suicide bombing attack.

Abdallah Saleh al Ajmi: a Kuwaiti captured in 2001, one of the first cases reviewed by the Combatant Status Review Tribunal. Transferred to Kuwait for trial in November 2005, and acquitted in 2006. He died in a suicide attack in Iraq in April 2008 in which he killed 7 people.

Abdullah Mehsud: a senior Taliban leader. Detained in December 2001, released after about 25 months in Guantanamo. Returned to a senior leadership role and was accused of kidnapping two Chinese engineers in Waziristan. He was killed in Pakistan in 2007.

Ruslan Odizhev: captured in 2001, transferred to Russia in 2004. Died in a shootout with police in a city outside Chechnya in June 2007.

Mohammed Naim Farouq: Taliban-affiliated militia leader transferred to Afghanistan in July 2003, still commanding men in the field.

Maulvi Abdul Ghaffar: A senior Taliban commander in northern Afghanistan, arrested in 2001 and held in Guantanamo for eight months. He rejoined the Taliban and was killed in 2004 by Afghan security forces during a raid in Uruzgan province.

Ravil Gumarovand Timur Ishmuratov: transferred from Guantanamo to Russia in 2004. The two former detainees were convicted of bombing a natural gas pipeline in Tatarstan in May 2006.

The Taliban Five: Abdul Haq Wasiq, Mullah Norullah Noori, Khairulla Khairkhwa, Mohammad Nabi and Mohammad Fazl were exchanged in 2014 for alleged deserter Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl. Since then three of the five have reportedly attempted to rejoin terror networks.

And the latest — Unknown — On the same day President Obama made his case to close the detainee facility at Guantanamo, the Associated Press reported: "Spanish and Moroccan police on Tuesday arrested four suspected members of a jihadi cell that sought to recruit fighters for the Islamic State group, including one described as a former Guantanamo detainee who once fought with militants in Afghanistan.” Spanish officials described him as "a leader who was trained in handling weapons, explosives and in military tactics." He was captured in 2002, held in Guantanamo, then returned to Spain in 2004, according to Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz.

James S. Robbins is a member of Paste BN's Board of Contributors and the author of The Real Custer: From Boy General to Tragic Hero.

In addition to its own editorials, Paste BN publishes diverse opinions from outside writers, including our Board of Contributors. To read more columns like this, go to the Opinion front page.