Iraqi Court Absolves Terrorist Freed By U.S. After Killing Soldiers

Surprise, surprise the Hezbollah terrorist released by the Obama Administration to Iraq out of respect for the country’s sovereignty won’t make it to the U.S. to face trial for killing five American soldiers.

We all knew this would happen back in December when the commander-in-chief handed over the Lebanese militant, Ali Mussa Daqduq, to Iraqi officials. A mainstream newspaper presented it as a “dilemma” for the president as American troops prepared to exit Iraq. Daqduq had been in U.S. military custody in Iraq since 2007 for his involvement in a carefully orchestrated plot that killed, kidnapped and tortured American military officers.

The atrocities took place in a city called Karbala, south of Baghdad in early 2007. Around a dozen terrorists dressed in U.S. military uniforms opened fire on Americans after approaching a camp in five sports utility vehicles resembling U.S. transports. One U.S. soldier died at the scene and four others were kidnapped, tortured and executed. Daqduq, a Hezbollah commander, was the mastermind.

But President Obama didn’t want to remove the terrorist from Iraq without permission from the country, in order not to violate its sovereignty. He also refused to take Daqduq to the U.S. Naval base in Guantanamo Cuba, which houses other high-value terrorists, because the facility is an anathema in the Middle East and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki would not approve the “unacceptable” Guantanamo option.

So Obama handed Daqduq over to the Iraqis even though several members of congress pointed out that it would be the same as freeing him. Apparently, Iraq pinky promised to hold him accountable for murdering our soldiers. No one, probably not even Obama, really believed that and this week a national newswire story confirmed it.

It turns out that two Iraqi courts have found Daqduq not guilty of masterminding the 2007 raid on an American military base and just a few days ago the nation’s central criminal court ordered that he be freed immediately. As far as the Iraqis are concerned, the legal case against him is over. That’s why authorities there refused the Obama Administration’s joke of an extradition request.

This may lead some to wonder if the administration really thought Iraq ever even toyed with idea of extraditing Duqduq, who is considered a hero among Islamists? The official line is that the government believes the Hezbollah commander is a top threat to Americans in the Middle East, which is why the U.S. even bothered filing the delusional extradition request.

The Iraqi court’s decision ends the Obama Administration’s laughable, last-ditch efforts to prosecute Daqduq. A Pentagon spokesman said Daqduq “should be held accountable for his crimes” and that the U.S. “”will continue to work closely with the Iraqi government to explore all legal options to pursue justice in this case.” The first part sounds good, but the second part is a crock.