Phoenix Air mystery flight flies from Florida to Guatanamo to D.C.

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Sharp eyed monitors on flight tracking sites noticed something unusual on Monday, a Gulfstream IV (N48GL) operated by Phoenix Air Group Inc (a company that often does contract work for the U.S. government, C.I.A and the U.S. military) was noted taking off from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba with it's ultimate destination Washington D.C. 

In light of the end of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and the aircraft in question (N48GL possibly using a cover hex-code of A-17FBA) also having just returned from Afghanistan, one can't help but wonder what (or more to the point) who was on that aircraft (most likely) flown from Afghanistan to Guantanamo to DC? 

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It's no secret that over the past 20 years, Guantánamo has held nearly 800 people, most suspected of plotting against the U.S. with some of them connected directly to the attack on 9-11.  

It's thought that now only 39 men are currently imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, while almost three-quarters of them have never been criminally charged, they are instead held as enemy combatants.  They're known as  the "forever prisoners" and they've  been detained (well) indefinitely with some of them  having been incarcerated there for just short of twenty years. 

So with the end of the war on terror in Afghanistan now over, what happens next? 

"We have been and remain at war with al-Qaida," said DOJ attorney Stephen M. Elliott at a hearing in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., in a case involving a former Afghan militia member who has been held at Guantánamo since 2007 but that was in May. 

Since President Biden took office, at least six Guantánamo detainees have been cleared for transfer to other countries with one being repatriated to Morocco in July of this year 

The Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan has raised fears that if additional Guantánamo prisoners are released, they could end up joining the militant group or engaging in anti-American activities overseas.

Afghanistan's Taliban has appointed former Guantanamo detainee mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir as acting defense minister, Qatari based Al Jazeera news channel reported, citing a source in the Islamist movement.

U.S. terrorism worries (fueled by photos of a Taliban leader, later identified as a former Guantánamo detainee) celebrating the capture of Kabul at the Afghan presidential palace and another Taliban leader who reportedly helped orchestrate the Taliban's comeback is a past Guantánamo inmate who was swapped in exchange for Bowe Bergdahl, the captured U.S. Army soldier.

Could it be that the flight had to do with the trial of an  Indonesian man (held in Guantanamo for 18 years) who  was due to go on trial on Monday?  

Encep Nurjaman, also known as Hambali and Riduan bin Isomudin, was set to face a military commission on charges of war crimes, including murder, “terrorism” and conspiracy. after his arrest in connection with a series of attacks and the deadly nightclub and hotel bombings in Indonesia in the early 2000s, but it was thought that trial was to take place at Guantanamo. 

Two other Malaysian men accused of being accomplices will also stand trial alongside him, namely Mohammed Nazir bin Lep and Mohammed Farik bin Amin.

But common sense tells us since Guantanamo is a Navy base (and there are plenty of Navy aircraft to shuttle lawyers and such back and fourth) so why the expensive charter of a Phoenix Air Group Gulfstream who barely had time to cool it's engines from a run into Afghanistan before a quick trip to GITMO and then to D.C.? 

Speculation ranges from a prisoner exchange in the works or possibly a last minute grab of a Taliban leader to insure the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan (including protection for  some U.S. citizens still in country) can continue to proceed without interference.

A U.S. drone strike early last Saturday killed an "ISIS-K" militant in the group blamed for the deadly suicide bombing at the Kabul airport, U.S. officials said. 

ISIS-K formed in late 2014, recruiting founding members that included "disaffected" militants who left the Afghan Taliban and Pakistani Taliban, said Seth Jones, senior vice president of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in an interview with NPR's All Things Considered.

ISIS-K, which counts the Taliban and al-Qaida as its competitors, has increasingly conducted brutal and high-profile attacks, Jones said, in pursuit of its end goal to establish "an Islamic Emirate."

According to the "Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan between the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban and the United States of America."

"The United States is committed to start immediately to work with all relevant sides on a plan to expeditiously release combat and political prisoners as a confidence building measure with the coordination and approval of all relevant sides."

It continues in the next paragraph with:  "The relevant sides have the goal of releasing all the remaining prisoners over the course of the subsequent three months. The United States commits to completing this goal. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban commits that its released prisoners will be committed to the responsibilities mentioned in this agreement so that they will not pose a threat to the security of the United States and its allies." 

Furthermore: "In conjunction with the announcement of this agreement, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban will take the following steps to prevent any group or individual, including al-Qa’ida, from using the soil of Afghanistan to threaten the security of the United States and its allies: 1. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban will not allow any of its members, other individuals or groups, including al-Qa’ida, to use the soil of Afghanistan to threaten the security of the United States and its allies. 2. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban will send a clear message that those who pose a threat to the security of the United States and its allies have no place in Afghanistan, and will instruct members of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban not to cooperate with groups or individuals threatening the security of the United States and its allies. 3. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban will prevent any group or individual in Afghanistan from threatening the security of the United States and its allies, and will prevent them from recruiting, training, and fundraising and will not host them in accordance with the commitments in this agreement. 4. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban is committed to deal with those seeking asylum or residence in Afghanistan according to international migration law and the commitments of this agreement, so that such persons do not pose a threat to the security of the United States and its allies. 5. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban will not provide visas, passports, travel permits, or other legal documents to those who pose a threat to the security of the United States and its allies to enter Afghanistan."

In return:

"The United States and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban seek positive relations with each other and expect that the relations between the United States and the new post-settlement Afghan Islamic government as determined by the intra-Afghan dialogue and negotiations will be positive and The  United States will seek economic cooperation for reconstruction with the new post-settlement Afghan Islamic government as determined by the intra-Afghan dialogue and negotiations, and will not intervene in its internal affairs."

Whether the Taliban will  honor this agreement (sanctioned by the U.N.) remains to be seen. 

Maybe whomever was on that flight is a bargaining chip. Stay tuned. 

-Steve Douglass