Free Republic

Five Yemenis held at the Guantanamo Bay prison have been transferred overseas, the Department of Defense announced late Wednesday. Al Khadr Abdallah Muhammad Al Yafi, Fadel Hussein Saleh Hentif, Abd Al-Rahman Abdullah Au Shabati and Mohammed Ahmed Salam were handed over to Oman and Akhmed Abdul Qadir was transferred to Estonia, it said in a statement marking the first movement of detainees so far in 2015. The move leaves 122 prisoners remaining at the Cuba facility. "The United States is grateful to the government of Oman for its humanitarian gesture and willingness to support ongoing U.S. efforts to close the...

In an escalation of arguments over closing a prison facility at Guantanamo Bay, a top Pentagon official says members of Congress must rethink their opposition to accepting these detainees into the United States. Michele Flournoy is President Barack Obama's new Pentagon policy chief. She says members of Congress need to remember that closing the stigmatized prison in Cuba will mean hard choices for everyone. She spoke after Senate Democrats said they won't pay for closure until the administration delivers a satisfactory plan for what to do with the detainees.