Pentagon officials have issued yet another statement angrily condemning the Afghan government for its plans to release 37 detainees from Bagram, calling it a “major step backward” for the rule of law.
The detainees were among those transferred to Afghan control, and following a review there was no real evidence against any of them. The lack of evidence led to them being cleared for release.
The Pentagon has repeatedly insisted the detainees are “dangerous” and have “blood on their hands,” though they were either unwilling or unable to produce evidence to that effect.
A spokesman for President Hamid Karzai says that the Pentagon doesn’t get to dictate judicial decisions in Afghanistan, and that seems to be a surprise to the Pentagon, which has insisted the Afghan Review Board was never supposed to have the authority to release anyone, and that the choice was meant to be between trial and indefinite detention without trial.