The Pentagon confirmed Monday that the United States released a total of 15 Guantanamo detainees, 12 Yemeni nationals and three Afghans, to the United Arab Emirates in the single largest release from the facility under Obamaâs watch.
While the Pentagon didnât divulge any further details on its website, the Department of Defense issued a statement providing the names of the transferred detainees:
US Department of Defense All the men released were engaged in terrorist activity in some shape or form.
Most of the information about the released detainees is classified, however The Weekly Standard has compiled a few details about the men âbased on leaked and declassified documents.â
Hereâs what we know:
All 15 detainees released to the UAE are considered high-risk, âred-lightâ detainees, according to Joint Task Force â Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO), the military division in charge of administration at Gimto. The Weekly Standard explains how the JTF-GTMO risk-assessment classification system works:
The entire detainee population was placed into one of three categories: green (low risk), yellow (medium risk), and red (high risk). JTF-GTMO considered the detainees in the last categoryâthe so-called red-light detaineesâto be the highest risk and generally recommended that they be retained in the Defense Department’s custody. JTF-GTMO deemed all 15 of the detainees transferred to the UAE to be red-light detainees.
The 15 detainees were listed at the âred-lightâ risk level before President Obama assumed power in 2009.
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Upon taking seat at the Oval Office, Obama initiated his own Guantanamo Review Task Force. That task force also determined that many of the men later released by the Obama administration were dangerous. Eight of the 15 men were deemed “too dangerous to transfer but not feasible for prosecution,” while another man was recommended for prosecution, meaning that the official recommendation was that 9 of the 15 remain in U.S. custody. The other six men were Yemenis held in “conditional detention.”
However, these assessments later changed. Hereâs the DoDâs statement detailing the decision of the Periodic Review Board (the Gitmo review board team established by President Obamaâs executive order in March 7, 2011) to release the 9 detainees previously deemed to be âtoo dangerous to transferâ by the JTF-GTMO:
Periodic Review Boards consisting of representatives from the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, and State; the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence determined continued law of war detention of 9 of the 15: al-Mujahid, Jarabh, Kamin, bin Hamdoun, al-Razak (aka Haji Hamidullah), Ahmed, Salih, Obaidullah, and al-Marwalah does not remain necessary to protect against a continuing significant threat to the security of the United States. As a result of those reviews, which examined a number of factors, including security issues, al-Mujahid, Jarabh, Kamin, bin Hamdoun, al-Razak (aka Haji Hamidullah), Ahmed, Salih, Obaidullah, and al-Marwalah were recommended for transfer by consensus of the six departments and agencies comprising the Periodic Review Board.
The PRBâs slightly less severe assessment of the detaineesâ risk level somewhat contradicts the JTF-GTMOâs âred-lightâ classification, leading some to believe that the PRB process is politicized.
With the recidivism rate of released terrorists at nearly 30%, it’s a virtual certainty that at least some of the 15 men released to the UAE will rejoin terror groups or engage in hostile activities against the United States.
Most of the men released were captured while fighting or conspiring against U.S. troops in Afghanistan or Iraq. Some were even detained for fighting in the battles of Tora Bora. Many have links to al-Qaeda. In other words, the Obama administration has put American lives at risk to save face politically.
The prisoner population at Guantanamo Bay is now down to 61. President Obama has pledged to transfer all remaining inmates out of the detention facilities by the end of his term.
Source: The Daily Wire
