Sessions Comments On Release Of Hezbollah Terrorist Responsible For Murder Of American Servicemembers

Statement

U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement today regarding news reports that Iraq had released Ali Mussa Daqduq, a Hezbollah operative responsible for the murder of five Americans:

"The release of the terrorist Ali Mussa Daqduq, after he was previously held in U.S. custody, stems from a feckless prisoner policy that I have warned about for years. Daqduq murdered five American military heroes, including Private Johnathan Millican of Locust Fork, Alabama, who was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for his gallantry in this attack. But, because President Obama made an irresponsible campaign pledge to close the military detention facility at Guantánamo Bay and continues to refuse to bring any new terrorist detainees to the facility, the Administration transferred Daqduq into Iraqi custody--with full knowledge that he was eventually going to be released. I warned of this at the time of the transfer. The obvious course would have been to transfer Daqduq to Guantánamo Bay for detention and trial for his actions, which violated the rules of war.

Much like the response to Benghazi, this incident reveals a dangerous naiveté: the Administration believes that softening our image will somehow soften the resolve of radical Islamists. It also believes that attacks like the one Daqduq carried out should be treated as crimes, rather than acts of war. Too many American heroes have spilled too much blood for this reckless policy to continue. Daqduq, and terrorists like him, should be tried as war criminals and punished with death--as our military laws have always provided."

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