The release comes despite knowledge that one of the two assassins who carried out the Charlie Hebdo massacre traveled to Yemen in 2011, and met with the radical American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.
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| President Obama |
"The president of the United States has concluded that the War on Terror has reached a point that we can safely release people from Gitmo," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told Fox News on Wednesday. "The best I can say about him is he's unfocused. That's delusional thinking. The War on Terror has reached a lethal phase, and it is insane to be letting these people out of Gitmo to go back to the fight."
Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., said: "We're talking about people who have been associated with Al Qaeda or have been involved in planning attacks or participating in attacks against our troops."
Though Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and militants in that region are asserting themselves once again as a global threat, other Islamist groups and self-radicalized operatives are posing grave security risks to dozens of countries. In Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State continues to hold ground in its war against the governments there and its quest for its own nation state.
In Nigeria, the terror group Boko Haram has seized territory said to be the size of the Islamic State's, while committing mass murders against the civilian population. Earlier this month, as many as 2,000 people were slaughtered by the terror group, rights groups say.
The Paris terror attack was a reminder of the threat from cells in Western Europe -- and reports emerged Thursday of a counterterrorism raid in Belgium that reportedly killed two.
But other recent plots and attacks by lone-wolf types have occurred in Canada, Australia and the United States. An alleged sympathizer of the Islamic State terror group was arrested in Ohio on Wednesday after authorities learned that he was plotting a shooting and bombing attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Yet the administration has been loath to term the problem as radical Islam.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest explained that, in their view, "these terrorists are individuals who would like to cloak themselves in the veil of a particular religion."
He added, "But based on the fact that the religious leaders of that religion have roundly condemned their actions, those religious leaders have indicated that their actions are entirely inconsistent with Islam."
Earnest said he wouldn't criticize anybody who does use that label.
This would include the French government, whose ambassador to the U.S., Gérard Araud, told Fox News on Wednesday that "we are at war with radical Islam."
Graham, also speaking on Fox News, said that "when our president doesn't acknowledge this is a religious-driven war, it's going to be very hard to win it."
Meanwhile, four of the latest Guantanamo transfers will be going to Oman, and one will be going to Estonia.
In a statement, the Defense Department said the transfers were "unanimously approved" by all agencies responsible for reviewing them."The United States coordinated with the Government of Oman to ensure these transfers took place consistent with appropriate security and humane treatment measures," the DOD said.
Several Republican senators including Ayotte have introduced legislation to clamp down on Obama's ability to transfer terror suspects out of the detention facility. These senators called for a "time out" on releasing more detainees after the Paris terror attacks.
The bill would prohibit transfers of terror suspects to foreign countries if there has been a confirmed case where an individual was transferred from Guantanamo and engaged in any terrorist activity. Any transfers to Yemen would be shut down for two years.
Source: Fox News
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