Posted on 01/05/2010 12:11:53 PM PST by workerbee
The U.S. will not transfer any detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Yemen right now, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday.
Ninety detainees in Gitmo are from Yemen, which is combating a resurgent Al Qaeda.
Alleged Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is also said to have gotten training in Yemen before carrying explosives on a Northwest flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. His attempt to detonate the bomb was foiled when his device malfunctioned and he was tackled by a passenger.
"One of the very first things Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula used as a tool was Gitmo," Gibbs said. "We're not going to make transfers to a country like Yemen that they're not capable of handling (the detainees). While we remain committed to closing the detention facility, the determination has been made that right now any additional transfers to Yemen is not a good idea."
The announcement comes as President Obama misses his original deadline for closing the facility -- a pledge he made on his first week in office. He also is facing considerable political pressure from several lawmakers who've asked him not to return any detainees to the poorest Arab country, located across from the Horn of Africa.
On Tuesday, Sen. John McCain, who's traveling with Sen. Joe Lieberman in Iraq, said the two lawmakers and Sen. Lindsey Graham recently wrote Obama to urge that no detainees be sent to Yemen "until such time that we can be sure and be confident that they will not return to the fight."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
"Guantanamo facility must be closed. It has served as a propaganda tool for Al Qaeda,told "Fox News Sunday." "Working closely with the Yemeni government right now we are looking at the other detainees in Guantanamo from Yemen, and we are going to take the right steps, but we're not going to do anything that put Americans at risk."
Another flip-flop from Obama and his band of merry incompetents.
SHAZAM!! This crew is on da'ball!
Yeah....they’re going to send them to Illinois instead....
Reality bites. If they’re not careful, next they will be declaring a war on terror.
Another timely decision by our protectors. Ya know ole John Kerry “I voted for it before I voted against it” must have been more mainstream than we ever imagined.
....John Brennan did not rule out sending Yemeni detainees back to that country.
“Guantanamo facility must be closed. It has served as a propaganda tool for Al Qaeda,told “Fox News Sunday.” “Working closely with the Yemeni government right now we are looking at the other detainees in Guantanamo from Yemen, and we are going to take the right steps, but we’re not going to do anything that put Americans at risk.”
Being an auburn fan, this type of logic reminds me of the Alabama fan who heard the statistic that 75% of car accidents occur within two miles of home. After hearing this, the Alabama fan decides to move their trailer to a different lot across town.
The dems think that if we had just put these thugs in Leavenworth that aq would be fine with it. That type of thinking is bassackwards.
This is not because the American people think that re-populating the ranks of AQ in Yemen is beyond stupid but because Yemen doesn’t want more AQ in Yemen.
No problemo! surely Obama and Brennan have written assurances from AlQ that they won't use that new facility as a propaganda tool.
That's IT? The reason to close Gitmo is simply because the enemy chose to make it "a propaganda tool?" How long are we gonna dance on that string?
All of the Yemeni terrorist training schools are currently full and not admitting new students. As soon as there are more openings, Barry will start sending them more terrorists to train.
If we are lucky, only three more years. It will be seven more years if Barry gets re-elected in 2012.
Sen. John McCain, who’s traveling with Sen. Joe Lieberman in Iraq, said the two lawmakers and Sen. Lindsey Graham recently wrote Obama to urge that no detainees be sent to Yemen “until such time that we can be sure and be confident that they will not return to the fight.”
There is no recidivism with the death penalty.
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