The Obama Administration hasn't just limited its catch and release program of our enemies to the Taliban.
The latest beneficiary is Ali Musa Daqduq, a Hezbollah commander connected with the killing of five U.S. soldiers back in 2007. Daqduk was released to the Iraqis in December of 2011 and was freed by them shortly thereafter, and some members of Congress, especially Representative Col. Allan West want to know why the Obama Administration kicked him loose. So do I:
Republicans on Capitol Hill are furious over the Obama administration’s handling of a purported Hezbollah commander, who was connected to the killing of five U.S. soldiers in 2007 and now is set for release by an Iraqi court.
The most recent GOP lawmaker to express frustration and to demand answers from the administration is Florida Rep. Allen West, who on Wednesday sent a letter to President Obama questioning why Ali Musa Daqduq was turned over to Iraq in December 2011.
West dismissed the argument by Obama officials that they were forced under a Bush administration agreement to release Iraqi citizens upon exiting in December 2011, saying Daqduq was in fact a Lebanon citizen.
“You had options when dealing with this terrorist,” wrote West, a 22-year Army veteran. “When you were elected president, the American people expected you to provide leadership.”
West suggested Daqduq should have been transferred to the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he could have been tried before a military commission. He also called Daqduq’s release an “utter betrayal” to American soldiers who have died in Afghanistan and Iraq.
It gets better. In a letter sent by Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 10 to Attorney General Eric Holder and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta accuses the administration of deliberately withholding information from lawmakers about the charges against Daqduq and his subsequent release to the Iraqi authorities until after it had occurred.
“Eight pages of charges ... appears to indicate that either the administration was purposefully withholding information from Congress or it had not done the due diligence required to file charges,” states the letter signed by Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the committee’s ranking GOP lawmaker, and the seven other GOP lawmakers on the committee.
This should be a top story on all the alphabet networks and a headline on every newspaper in the country. Instead, we get to read about a WAPO/ABC poll with no mechanics given that purports to show Romney and Obama 'tied', about Obama's attack on Bain Capital and about Ann Romney's equestrian hobby.
They ought to be ashamed of themselves, as should this president.
For the Watchers Council's consideration:
ReplyDeletehttp://gastewart3.blogspot.ca/2012/05/six-commandments-and-gradual-loss-of.html
Regards,
GA Stewart III
"So do I..." I agree. It seems as though we have or at least our political leaders have become suicidal. Hezbollah is an enemy of the United States and, as much at it pains me to write this especially after we've spent so much blood and treasure supporting the Iraqi government, Iraq is an enemy of the United States. It makes no sense to release an enemy combatant of one entity to another enemy government. How could anyone expect such a thing to end well.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad someone in the government is asking questions. Perhaps all of our leaders are not suicidal.
Not only are we doing this but the centerpiece of US foreign policy is and has been for years the creation of a state of "Palestine". The leaders of this state and the citizens who comprise this state are bitter enemies of America. Why should they be rewarded with a state?
Not only this but it gets worse. We are proposing that that this state be carved out of the land of Israel, a stalwart ally!! In addition, the next cornerstone of US foreign policy has been to tyr and prevent Israel from taking any concrete action to thwart Iran's ambitions of developing nuclear weapons. Iran is a bitter enemy of both America and Israel!!
This policy of rewarding enemies while trying to punish friends is very distugting and quite a bit disturbing. Perhaps US leaders really do harbor a death wish for themselves and the nation they are supposed to be representing.
At least men like Allen West are voices of sanity here. If this ocntinues perhaps this along with new elections coming up soon means there may still be some hope for our nation.