U.S. transfers four Guantanamo prisoners to Afghanistan

Free Republic

Four detainees held for more than a decade at the U.S. military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been transferred to Afghanistan, the Pentagon announced Saturday.

The Afghan detainees were released late Friday at the request of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani — an indication, one senior administration official said, “of the confidence we have in the new government” in Kabul. Ghani’s request, the official added, was made in October, shortly after he was sworn into office.

The United States and Afghanistan have not started serious discussions about repatriating the remaining eight Afghans still held at Guantanamo Bay, said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the transfers.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com …

Hitler learns that Sony won’t be releasing “The Interview”

1,000 Soldiers From The 82nd Airborne Headed To Iraq

Weasel Zippers

The advance party already has boots on the ground.

Via Stars and Stripes

Approximately 1,000 paratroopers from the Army’s famed 82nd Airborne Division will deploy to Iraq early next year to help the Iraqi security forces take on the Islamic State, the Pentagon announced Friday.

The soldiers from the 82nd’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team, based at Fort Bragg, N.C., will begin to deploy in late January to train, advise and assist the ISF, Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby told reporters.

Their mission is part of the coalition effort to build up the Iraqi army and Kurdish peshmerga so that they can recapture territory from Islamic State militants.

The paratroopers are preparing for a nine-month deployment, according to a spokeswoman for the 82nd Airborne.

Approximately 300 troops from other Army, Air Force and Marine Corps units will also deploy to provide “enabler” support in areas such as counterintelligence, logistics, and signals, Kirby said.

Last month, President Barack Obama authorized an additional 1,500 troops to deploy to Iraq to participate in the train, advise and assist mission. The deployment of elements of the 82nd Airborne is part of that initiative.

On Thursday, Lt. Gen. James Terry, the commander of Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, told reporters that other countries in the coalition are expected to contribute to another 1,500-strong force for the capacity-building effort.

“The key to success out there will be increasing the capabilities of Iraqi security forces,” Terry said.

Iraqi officials are reportedly eager to go on the offensive and retake places like Mosul, but the U.S. military believes the ISF aren’t ready.

Keep reading

Silence on Bowe Bergdahl, months after Army investigation concludes

Free Republic

Six months after the military began an investigation into the disappearance of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl and his capture by the Taliban, which held him for five years, the results remain under wraps as senior Army officials determine what to do next.

Bergdahl was recovered in Afghanistan by U.S. troops in a controversial swap for five Taliban officials on May 31. He had disappeared from his small patrol base on June 30, 2009, under a cloud of suspicion and fear as it became clear he been captured by militants.

The Army in June launched a new investigation into Bergdahl’s disappearance and capture, amid a raft of accusations from his fellow soldiers that he walked away from his unit on the battlefield and questions about whether the Obama administration handled the prisoner swap legally. But six months later there is silence about the probe from all corners.

Army Lt. Col. Alayne Conway, a spokeswoman at Army headquarters, and Army Col. Steve Warren, a spokesman for the Pentagon, both said Monday that they had no updates about the case. Bergdahl’s lawyer, Eugene R. Fidell, declined to comment. Fidell, a military justice expert who teaches at Yale University, was hired in July.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com …