<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.5730.11" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV>
<H3>GOP lawmaker: U.S. released half the top al Qaeda targets in Iraq</H3>
<P>WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. military is operating a "catch-and-release"
program with al Qaeda in Iraq, a Republican lawmaker said Friday, charging it
has previously caught and released half the major terrorist figures it is now
seeking.</P>
<P>Speaking to the National Press Club, Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., said,
"There is an infuriating fact that is seldom discussed: Fully half of the
high-value al Qaeda targets in Iraq have been captured and released before. </P>
<P>"As one senior official that I talked to put it, 'I have great photographs of
half of the people we're hunting. They're wearing orange jumpsuits in the mug
shots we took of them when we captured them the first time.'"</P>
<P>She added, "We are operating a catch-and-release program for al Qaeda in
Iraq. This is inexcusable and frustrating as all get out for the young men and
women in the military who are in the fight." (Posted 11:49
a.m.)</P></DIV></BODY></HTML>