State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said today that the US government is very concerned about the five Quds Force operatives released from US custody and transferred to Iraq.

According to the AP, Kelly "told reporters that the U.S. released the five to the Iraqi government because it was obliged to do so under a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement that took effect several months ago."

If it's true that the US was indeed "obliged" to release terrorists responsible for funding, equipping and training those killing American soldiers, we should not call it a "security agreement." And if it's not true, and they could have been held longer, then this decision is bewildering.

Republicans on both the House and Senate intelligence committees have asked the administration for more information.