The New York Times reports that with these 15 prisoners sent for resettlement in the UAE, there are now only 20 Guantanamo prisoners who have been approved for transfer and are simply waiting for a country to agree to take them.
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Last year, Pentagon review teams visited a mix of civilian and military facilities in South Carolina, Kansas and Colorado that might serve to house the small number of detainees who can never be released.
Obama reiterated his aim earlier this year to close down Guantanamo Bay by the end of his presidency, calling the prison “contrary” to USA values and a recruitment tool for terrorists.
The administration of George W Bush opened a prison there to hold terror suspects.
Obama urgently wants to close the facility before he leaves office at the start of next year but has been continually thwarted by Republican lawmakers.
Obama, who made a campaign promise to close the prison during his first year in office, rolled out a plan in February 2016 aimed at shutting the facility.
“The pre-eminent responsibility of the federal government is to keep the American people safe, yet the Obama administration’s misguided commitment to releasing detainees in order to eventually close Guantanamo unacceptably gambles with our nation’s safety”, Sen.
President Barack Obama, center, is renewing his push to close Guantanamo Bay detention center, which remains a radical left position. Since then, one was released to Montenegro, one to Italy and two to Serbia.
“Once again hardened terrorists are being released to foreign countries where they will be a threat”, said Republican Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The Afghan detainees transferred to UAE are Obaidullah, Muhammad Kamin, and Hamid Al-Razak.
Speaking to Premier, Philip Gardner, an worldwide politics expert, said: “I do think it’s very important that whoever the next president is, they realise the damage that Guantanamo Bay does to America’s image around the world”. The administration has been working with other countries to resettle detainees who have been cleared for transfer.
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Today the Department of Defense announced 15 detainees were transferred from the Guantánamo Bay detention site. The conflict there pits an internationally recognized government, backed by a coalition led by Saudi Arabia, a Sunni powerhouse, against Shiite rebels known as Houthis and their allies.
