"Why would I lie?"
"Maliki: amnesty for 'deceived' insurgents," from Agence France-Presse:
BAGHDAD: Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Sunday announced an amnesty for those detainees who had been "deceived" into joining the insurgency in Iraq. The amnesty, he told a news conference, would not apply to those found guilty of killings or planting bombs.
"I asked the legal department and I asked the political council for national security, and they all agreed it is necessary to grant amnesty for those who were deceived or those who committed minor contraventions," Maliki said.
"We believe some prisoners were deceived and their families will prevent them from returning to terrorism," he said. "This amnesty will not cover those who have been convicted of killings or planting explosives."
It was not immediately clear how many detainees would be affected by the amnesty.
And among them, how many are foreign nationals?
On Thursday, the US military released 500 Iraqi detainees at a ceremony attended by Maliki at Camp Victory, a large military base near Baghdad airport.
The prime minister told reporters the prisoners had been released "on a humanitarian basis," adding that it was part of a broader national reconciliation program his government embarked upon last year.
Around 20,000 detainees are held in US-run prisons in Iraq, mostly in Camp Bucca near the southern port city of Basra and at Camp Cropper near Baghdad.
Most of them are believed to be Sunni Arabs detained during military operations across the country on suspicion of aiding the anti-US insurgency and have been held without charge for months or years.
The US military says the average time a detainee spends in one of its two prisons is one year.
The rate of recidivism would also be an interesting statistic.
The world is insane.
Release POW's before the war is over? The rocket scientists in Washington DC are going to get us all killed.
Deceived or guilty of minor contraventions, would cover exactly what in legalese? Those who assisted the bomb planters and assassins? So glad the lawyers and the political council for national security made that distinction for us. Imagine some duped, innocent accomplice to murder or mayhem being punished for facilitating murder or mayhem.
It is quite a relief to know that the accomplices to murder and mayhem will be put on the straight path to good citizenship by their families, even though, these same families might have endorsed, harbored and aided them in their crimes.
Please tell the good news to the families, but especially the widows and orphans, of the victims of said amnesty so that they can rejoice in the good news in Iraq. Those with traumatic brain injuries, loss of limbs, loss of sight, disfiguring scars and burns and other injuries will all be glad to know that mercy for the perpetrators is not strained in Iraq. Oh no, the quality of mercy is not strained in Iraq. Shakespeare must have been thinking of Iraq when he penned those memorable lines.
It was satire.
Catch and Release sounds like a bad idea to me. How many are likely to turn up on the battlefield again? Only the dead and severely wounded are guaranteed not to pose a problem in the future.
"Why would I Lie?"- Maliki
Ummm, is this a trick question, Nouri?
"And among them, how many are foreign nationals?"
Answer: 90%
"The rate of recidivism would also be an interesting statistic."
Answer: Extremely high-that of ending up worse off, whether or not they go home and stop their jihad, and that of being recycled back into the jihad for attacks anew (already documented to occur for years now).
It would be most practical, and effective, just to shoot them...but with the anti-western 5th column aiding and abetting the enemy with bogus charges of "war criminal!", that would actually give them a REAL excuse to scream "war criminal!"...and if we kept them in prison, the same 5th columnists would find a way to screed...ooops, I mean scream, bloody murder about that one, too...same as they do about "secret prisons!" and all that.
The 5th column will screed no matter what's done.
Of course, their political enemies (that's US, and anyone they don't support) will get blamed for that one, too...and the MSM with faithfully run interference for them, as usual. A great racket they have there...
SSDD