The claim by Fox News’ host Jeanine Pirro, that Obama was responsible for the release of the man who founded the terrorist organization ISIS, has been shown to be false by the fact-checking site Politifact.
ISIS’ attacks across Iraq have encouraged Obama’s opponents to find some means of blaming him for this recent insurgence of terrorism. In her June 14 broadcast, Pirro made the claim that in 2009, the founder of ISIS, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, had been released from Camp Bucca, an Iraqi prison, by order of the Obama administration. Pirro thus made Obama directly responsible for ISIS and its recent actions in Iraq.
When Politifact undertook to verify Pirro’s claim, however, it found that, not only was there no evidence linking Obama to Baghdadi’s release, it was even possible that President Bush was the one responsible.
It is certain that Baghdadi had been held at Camp Bucca and that he had been released. However, there are two possible dates for his release: either 2004 or 2009. The former date was provided by the Pentagon, the latter by the former commander of Bucca.
In either case, Obama cannot be held responsible for the release. If Baghdadi had been released in 2004, Bush was still in office. If he had been released in 2009, Obama would still not be responsible, since the prisoners released in 2009 were first handed over to the Iraqi government; thus it would be the Iraqis who freed Baghdadi.