Prigionieri in cerca di sistemazione

Q Josh, on the specialized Expeditionary Targeting Force, they are supposed to be tasked with killing or capturing ISIS leaders. In the event some are captured, where are they going to be held? Are they going to be held in theater? I assume that you would rule out Gitmo. MR. EARNEST: Absolutely. Q So where are they going to be kept? MR. EARNEST: Well, let me do one other thing. There’s one other part of their mission that you didn’t mention in your short question -- you were just trying to keep your question short, I'm sure -- but it's important that it not be overlooked. There’s an important intelligence component to their missions, and their ability to go and scoop up paperwork and hard drives and other information that can be critical to our ongoing efforts is a central part of this strategy. And as I mentioned, it was a central part of -- one of the main benefits of the Abu Sayyaf raid that was carried out earlier this year. As it relates to individuals that are detained in the course of these operations, the Department of Defense will have to make a determination. We'll obviously be working closely with the Iraqi government on these raids that are conducted in Iraq. The situation in Syria is obviously more complicated. There is at least one precedent for this, which is that in the course of the Abu Sayyaf raid, against that ISIL leader, his wife was detained in the context of that raid, and his wife was turned over to Kurdish authorities because there was some evidence to indicate that she had at least been complicit, if not actively involved, in some of the hostage-taking that ISIL has engaged in. And that's why she was turned over to Kurdish authorities. I, frankly, haven't been briefed on the latest on her case, so I don't have an update for you on that. But that's an example of one way that this process could work. But I would certainly rule out for you sending any additional prisoners to the prison at Guantanamo Bay. Q Not even temporarily? MR. EARNEST: Not even temporarily. 

Q Especially because the Defense Secretary said that he would not rule out making recommendations that would increase the force size, especially with this new announcement -- what are you going to do about the notion of this opening the door to further involvement? MR. EARNEST: Well, again, first of all, I would start by saying that this is consistent with what we’ve been doing in Iraq and in Syria in the past. It is also an intensification that only involves, but that involves about 200 United States military personnel. That certainly stands in contrast to the more than 100,000 U.S. troops that were on the ground in Iraq and sent there by the previous administration. So we're quite cognizant of our ongoing commitment to making sure that the kind of offensive, enduring ground combat operation that was in place under the orders of President George W. Bush are not in place this time because we do not believe that that served the interest of the United States particularly well. 
Press Briefing 3 Dec 2015


La cattura di un operativo di calibro medio avvenuta nelle settimane scorse in Iraq ad opera dell'unità Delta Force rappresenta una svolta importante nella guerra che si sta combattendo in quell'area. Da un lato viene reiterata la volontà di affiancare alle azioni di forza condotte attraverso raid aerei, le informazioni provenienti dal territorio. Ciò fa si che l'obiettivo sia quello di catturare vivi il maggior numero possibile di esponenti di Daesh. Inoltre il rapporto di collaborazione con le truppe irachene e curde sembra essersi rafforzato e finalmente produrre risultati significativi soprattutto in vista della stretta finale da lanciare su Mosul.
Si ripropone però il dilemma del destino dei prigionieri.
Da quando il segretario di stato americano Carter ha annunciato in Dicembre l'invio di circa duecento appartenenti alle forze speciali di cui un numero a doppia cifra si dedica alle operazioni di cattura di elementi di spicco della formazione terroristica, non si è ancora avuta notizia di come i prigionieri verranno gestiti.
A quanto è dato sapere il soggetto catturato il mese scorso è stato trattato allo stesso modo della moglie di Abu Sayyaf. Consegnato all'esercito iracheno e nella disponibilità dei curdi, è stato interrogato dai rappresentanti americani nella prigione di Erbil. Così come Nisreen Assad , nei cui confronti il dipartimento di giustizia americano ha emesso un'ordinanza di incriminazione per il rapimento e la morte di Kayla Mueller, questi non potrà venire estradato in America perchè la legge irachena non lo prevede. Nell'auspicabile eventualità che con il tempo il numero di catture aumenti, l'amministrazione americana, che si è detta contraria al ripristino di strutture come Abu Ghraib e Gitmo, deve ancora illustrare al congresso i propositi in merito.
Obiettivo principale è quello di scongiurare errori ed orrori del passato.