Despite pleas from his own party, Obama is sending Gitmo prisoners back to Yemen no matter what

obama-twapDespite pleas from even far left Democrats such as Dianne Feinstein, Obama still plans to ship Gitmo prisoners back to Yemen regardless. Today on Fox News Sunday, Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser John Brennan said the administration “absolutely” intends to keep sending Guantanamo prisoners to Yemen. The administration has sent seven detainees to the country, Brennan said, with six of those sent in December, according to the Washington Examiner. The full video of Chris Wallace’s interview with Brennan is available as the story continues.

“Several of those detainees were put into Yemeni custody right away,” Brennan said. He did not elaborate on how many is “several” or where the other Guantanamo inmates sent to Yemen might be today. But he said the U.S. has faith in Yemen to handle the situation. “We’ve had close dialogue with the Yemeni government about the expectations that we have as far as what they’re supposed to do when these detainees go back,” Brennan said.

Given that, host Chris Wallace asked, “You are going to consider on a case-by-case basis sending more Yemenis back to Yemen?”

“Absolutely,” said Brennan.

Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Brennan explained that, “Of the recent batch that we sent back, about six, many of them are in custody within the Yemeni system right now.” He did not elaborate on the meaning of “many.” “We will decide and determine when, when we should send additional people back,” Brennan continued. “But we’re going to do it in the right way, because Guantanamo should be closed. It was used as a propaganda tool by al-Qaeda, and the president is still committed to it.” The message was clear: Guantanamo inmates are going back to Yemen.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4hXKnaz8mA

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January 3, 2010 · Filed Under Gitmo, muslims, Terrorism


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