New congressional report slams Bush and Obama administrations over Gitmo detainee releases

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Fox News:

WASHINGTON – A new report by Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee slams both the Bush and Obama administrations for taking too many risks when releasing prisoners from Guantanamo Bay prison, Fox News has learned.

The 93-page report, which is expected to be approved Thursday, criticizes the evolution of detainee policies over the past decade and claims both the Bush and Obama adminstrations have adhered to "domestic political pressures" to allow the transfer of some detainees. In turn, those transfers have amped up the national security risk to the United States.

 

The report comes as the Obama administration officials have acknowledged that they are considering whether to release several Afghan Taliban prisoners from Guantanamo and send them to a third country as an incentive to bring the Taliban to peace talks. The step is certain to create an uproar in Congress, especially among Republicans. The 93-page study is likely to be part of the Republican effort to influence the ongoing debate.

Nearly 14 percent of the former detainees re-engaged in terrorist or insurgent activities upon release, and another 12 percent are suspected of doing so, according to the document.

"The Bush and Obama administrations, reacting to domestic political pressures and a desire to earn goodwill abroad, sought to reduce the Guantanamo population by sending detainees elsewhere," the report said. "Both administrations faced the persistent challenge of ensuring that the potential threat posed by each detainee had been aptly assessed before transfer or release, and that the countries that received the detainees had the capacity and willingness to handle them in a way that sufficiently recognized the dangers involved."