It’s too early to tell if this story will become a reality, but if it does it will be remarkable:
Most of the alleged al Qaeda and Taliban inmates at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are likely to be freed or sent to their home countries for further investigation because many pose little threat and are not providing much valuable intelligence, the facility’s deputy commander has said.
The remarks by Army Brig. Gen. Martin Lucenti in yesterday’s edition of London’s Financial Times appeared to conflict with past comments by U.S. military commanders who have stressed the value of the information obtained from the detainees and the danger many would pose if released.
“Of the 550 [detainees] that we have, I would say most of them, the majority of them, will either be released or transferred to their own countries,” Lucenti was quoted as saying in the British newspaper. “Most of these guys weren’t fighting. They were running. Even if somebody has been found to be an enemy combatant, many of them will be released because they will be of low intelligence value and low threat status.
“We don’t have a level of evidence to feel that we can be confident to prosecute them” all, he added, according to the newspaper. “We have guys here who have never told us anything, except to say that they want to cut off the heads of the infidels if they get a chance.”
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