The Biden administration has sent home a Saudi detainee at Guantanamo Bay who had hoped to kill innocent Americans on 9/11.
Since 2002, U.S. authorities have held Mohammed al-Qahtani at Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Back in February, the White House announced plans to repatriate al-Qahtani to Saudi Arabia for mental health care.
The announcement generated outrage from some Republican lawmakers. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) called the decision an โappalling capitulation to the far-left.โ
The Washington Free Beacon reports:
The news comes as the Biden administration is reportedlyย consideringย a trip to Saudi Arabia to discuss increased oil exports. During his campaign, Biden promised to make the Gulf nation a โpariahโ for killing formerย Washington Postย journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
โKhashoggi was, in fact, murdered and dismembered, and I believe on the order of the crown prince,โ Bidenย saidย during a Democratic primary debate in Atlanta. โAnd I would make it very clear we were not going to, in fact, sell more weapons to them, we were going to, in fact, make them pay the price and make them, in fact, the pariah that they are.โ
Biden also promised to โend subsidiesโ for Saudi Arabia, which would include oil subsidies.
A panel that reviews the cases of uncharged Guantanamo prisoners determined in 2021 that al-Qahtani no longer needed to be detained and did not pose a โsignificant threat to the national security of the United States.โ Al-Qahtani's lawyers had long encouraged repatriation, saying the Saudi national has exhibited symptoms of schizophrenia and has โrepeatedly attempted suicideโ under detention.
U.S. customs nabbed al-Qahtani on Aug. 4, 2001, while he was traveling to meet with Mohammed Atta, the leading hijacker in the 9/11 terror attacks.
The federal government reportedly dropped plans to prosecute al-Qahtani after a Bush administration attorney concluded he had been tortured at Guantanamo.
โThe United States appreciates the willingness of Saudi Arabia and other partners to support ongoing U.S. efforts toward a deliberate and thorough process focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population and ultimately closing of the Guantanamo Bay facility,โ the Department of Defense said in a statement announcing al-Qahtani's repatriation.
3 Comments
It seems like our current administration is doing everything that they can do to send our country into the toilet!!
You know, I’d be a lot more outraged if not for the fact that neither GWB nor Trump could be bothered to get him to trial. Indefinite detention without charge should not be an alternative to the risk of losing at trial, and the remaining Gitmo inmates are painful evidence of bipartisan laziness in dealing with their cases.
It sucks, but Biden actually got this one right. If this guy causes trouble later, it’s on the Bush administration for being utterly unable to figure out how to bring a case.
When are we going to rid our country of the Democrat traitor who fraudulently occupies the White House? How bad do things have to get?