GOP Lawmakers Blast Obama Over Release of Iraqi Terrorist

photo credit: isafmediaRepublicans on the Hill are blasting President Obama for failing to stop the Iraqi government from releasing a Hezbollah commander suspected in the killing of five Americans.

The State Department confirmed Friday that Iraqi officials released Ali Mussa Daqduq, despite repeated pleas from the Obama administration to keep him in custody. Even Vice President Joe Biden made a personal entreaty as recently as Tuesday, a White House official told POLITICO.

Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham said the release shows America’s influence is waning because of Obama’s “failed foreign policy.”

“The United States now has so little influence that it could not prevail upon the Iraqi government to extradite Daqduq to the U.S. to stand trial for his crimes,” they said in a joint statement.

Over in the House, the chairs of the Armed Services, Intelligence, Judiciary, and Foreign Affairs committees blamed Obama for turning over Daqduq to Iraqi authorities in the first place and for failing to secure a long-term cooperation agreement with Iraq that also may have averted his release.

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