WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans have been killed by prisoners released from the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a senior Defense Department official told lawmakers Wednesday, triggering sharp criticism from Republicans opposed to shuttering the facility in the wake of deadly attacks by the Islamic State group in Brussels and Paris.
Paul Lewis, the Pentagon’s special envoy for Guantanamo detention closure, declined to provide the GOP-led House Foreign Affairs Committee with details. He would not say whether the incidents occurred before or after President Barack Obama took office in January 2009.
“What I can tell you is unfortunately there have been Americans that have died because of (Guantanamo) detainees,” Lewis said during an exchange with Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif.
“When anybody dies, it is tragedy and we don’t want anybody to die because we transfer detainees,” Lewis said.
An Obama administration official said Lewis was referring to an incident that involved an Afghan prisoner released from Guantanamo while George W. Bush was president. The official was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.
More at AP
Gitmo has been a great recruiting aid for radical Islamists
Dr J when you leave out hard facts like the numbers which Bush and Obama released it is like waving a red flag.
total detainees at Gitmo 780
total released by Bush 538
total at beginning Obama 242
total released by Obama 147
Bush released 3 times as many as Obama
@john: Bikini Season
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Gitmohas been a great recruiting aid for radical Islamists@john:
Why don’t you provide one shred of evidence that GITMO has been a recruiting aid… aside from left wing lies.
True, many of the prisoners released by Bush have turned back to terrorism. So, why does Obama keep doing it? Oh… because kow-towing to Muslims is more important than American lives.
There are 91 detainees left at GITMO. Get a clue.
From the article:
The fact that he declined to provide details doesn’t mean they aren’t available. Of the total number that have left GITMO, the great majority did so before Obama took office. The chart also breaks out the numbers confirmed to have reengaged in terrorist activities.
@Greg: All a liberal needs is deniability. Facts and truth have no place in the liberal mind.
All anyone needs to do is look at the numbers on the chart and consider what they mean. The actual facts and truths are plainly revealed by the numbers. There’s nothing complicated about it.
@john:
Only in the minds of left wing morons. Neither ISIS nor Al Qaeda has mentioned it.
@Reem: I think the clue is that if there were more still there, there would be more Americans alive!