Daily Caller News Foundation

Gitmo A ‘Very Fine Place’ To Hold New Terror Captives, Sessions Says

John Moore/Getty Images.

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Saagar Enjeti White House Correspondent
Font Size:

Attorney General Jeff Sessions supports holding any new captured enemy combatants in Guantanamo Bay, he told Hugh Hewitt Thursday evening.

Sessions reiterated his opposition to closing the prison, saying it’s “just a very fine place for holding these kind of dangerous criminals.” Sessions continued that he considered captured terrorists prisoners of war. “Prisoners of war can be held throughout the time of the conflict. You don’t have to release them so they can continue to kill you,” he declared.

Sessions’ position likely closely aligns with President Donald Trump, who opposed releasing captured terrorists from Guantanamo throughout the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump admonished Obama for last minute detainee transfers and highlighted the recidivism rate of released terrorists, after the U.S. killed a former Guantanamo Bay detainee in Yemen.

Of the terrorists released from Guantanamo bay, 121 have returned to the field of Jihad, the U.S. intelligence community said Tuesday. Each of the terrorists were “confirmed” to be reengaged in terrorist activity. Ex-Guantanamo bay detainee Jamal al-Harith appeared in a recent ISIS propaganda video before blowing himself up in the battle for Mosul in Iraq.

Ex-detainee al-Harith was given a multi-million dollar settlement by the British government for its alleged crime of helping the U.S. locate its citizens engaged in terrorism.

Trump has not yet indicated whether he supports repatriating captured terrorists in Iraq and Syria to Guantanamo bay for interrogation. If he did however, Sessions said he would “see no legal problem whatsoever with doing that,” adding “there’s plenty of space. We are well equipped for it. It’s a perfect place for it.”

Follow Saagar Enjeti on Twitter

Send tips to saagar@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.