ICYMI: US transfers 15 Guantánamo detainees in largest single release under Obama
Today, the Obama administration transferred 15 terrorists held at GITMO to the United Arab Emirates, marking the largest single transfer of detainees since President Obama took office.
This transfer comes just two months after revelations that at least a dozen terrorists previously released from GITMO had subsequently launched attacks against U.S. or allied forces, resulting in the deaths of a half-dozen Americans. Despite these dire consequences, House Democrats have continued to support President Obama’s plan to close GITMO in an effort to fulfill a campaign promise made to the far-left.
NRCC Comment: “The Obama administration’s latest transfer of terrorists from GITMO, with the full support of House Democrats, is just the latest in a series of foreign policy blunders that make our country less safe. Despite the fact that at least a dozen of the terrorists previously released from GITMO have gone on to launch attacks against Americans, House Democrats have been steadfast allies in President Obama’s misguided quest to close the facility and transfer out the remaining detainees.” – NRCC Spokesman Bob Salera
US Transfers 15 Guantanamo detainees in largest single release under Obama
The Guardian
Spence Ackerman
August 15, 2016
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/aug/15/guantanamo-bay-inmates-transferred-obama
The largest single transfer of Guantánamo Bay detainees of Barack Obama’s presidency occurred on Monday, as 15 long-held men departed the infamous detention center.
The transfer, expected to be officially announced by the Pentagon on Monday afternoon, brings the Guantánamo detainee population down to 61.
All 15 detainees were said to on their way to the same nation, believed to be the United Arab Emirates, which has accepted former Guantánamo detainees in the past.
Some of the 15 detainees were cleared for transfer out of Guantánamo by a 2010 multi-agency review, while others were deemed to pose a negligible security threat by a quasi-parole board which Obama established to expedite his long-pledged closure of Guantánamo Bay, according to a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the official announcement.
Administration officials have heralded for months that they would speed up detainee transfers this summer, as Obama’s term in office winds down with his promise to close Guantánamo – made on his second day in office – still unfulfilled.
The Guardian reported in May that the Obama administration had reached deals with a half-dozen foreign countries to repatriate approximately two dozen detainees.
The 15-detainee transfer is the largest Guantánamo release during Obama’s presidency. While Obama released 10 Yemeni detainees to Oman in January and nine more Yemenis to Saudi Arabia in April, Monday’s transfer eclipsed a December 2009 release of 12 detainees to three countries.
Transfers of larger numbers of detainees in a single round was more typical of the Bush administration, which established Guantánamo as a wartime detention facility in 2002.