Pentagon releases 15 more Gitmo detainees

Pentagon releases 15 more Gitmo detainees
Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY 8:48 p.m. EDT August 15, 2016

Fifteen prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention center were sent to the United Arab Emirates in the single largest release of detainees during the Obama administration, according to the Pentagon. USA


WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has approved the release of 15 detainees from the prison camps at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the United Arab Emirates, a move derided Monday night by a leading member of Congress as reckless.

Rep. Ed Royce, the California Republican who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee, called the released detainees "hardened terrorists" who will be a threat for years.

"In its race to close Gitmo, the Obama administration is doubling down on policies that put American lives at risk," Royce said in a statement. "Once again, hardened terrorists are being released to foreign countries where they will be a threat."

The Pentagon, in a statement, said an inter-agency review board considered their potential threat to security and unanimously approved six of the 15 for release, A consensus was reached on release of the remaining nine. There are 61 detainees remaining at Guantanamo.

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