Sen. Saxby Chambliss says he’s written a letter to President Obama urging Mr. Obama to declassify — to the extent he can — information on the five Taliban commanders recently transferred from Guantanamo Bay in the swap for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.
Mr. Chambliss, Georgia Republican, called on Mr. Obama to declassify detainees’ task force assessments from 2009, as well as “any other relevant information.”
“Although I understand that some of this material needs to remain redacted, much of this intelligence is over a decade old and does not present a threat to current U.S. sources and methods,” Mr. Chambliss wrote in a letter dated June 3.
Mr. Chambliss, the highest ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement that Mr. Obama needs to “look the American people in the eye” and explain why the transfer of the five detainees was justified, along with the associated risks of the move.
“The president should immediately declassify each of their 2009 assessments and let the American people know what each of these individuals was accused of, why they were being held at Guantanamo, and what this administration found in each of their annual reviews,” Mr. Chambliss said. “If the American people had this information, they would agree we should not be returning these terrorists back to the fight.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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