When Mercy is Too Much

Here’s a story that should surprise no one. A top Taliban commander was killed when he blew himself up Tuesday in Pakistan, near the Afghan border, rather than surrender to American forces. What should not surprise anyone is that Abdullah Mehsud returned to terrorism almost immediately after he was released from U.S. custody in 2004.

Doesn’t this almost always happen? Israel has just released more Palestinian prisoners to bolster President Abbas. But Hamas says it makes no difference to them and you can bet that many, if not all of them, will eventually return to terrorism. This is who they are. This is what they claim their religion commands them to do.

Oh, and he was a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. What will all of those civil libertarians anxious to free these guys say now? Will they accept responsibility for the number of people Mehsud has helped murder since his release? Of course they will not.