“Since it’s now well-known that Yemen-based al-Qaeda is actively plotting against us, I don’t see how the president can honestly say any detainee should be transferred to Yemen,” Sen. Saxby Chambliss (Ga.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said in a statement. “Sending them to countries where al-Qaeda and its affiliates operate and continue to attack our interests is not a solution.”…

Lawyers and civil liberties advocates say that the fact that the first two detainees to undergo the review are from Yemen underscores the importance that Obama has placed on repatriating that group. But Remes is worried that the latest security threat may disrupt any planned transfers to Yemen and, perhaps, delay the review process for others.

“The security concerns are unfounded,” he said. “It’s easy to demagogue the issue, and so far President Obama has rolled over every time he has faced controversy on this.”