US to release Iraqi extremist group!

OK... I read this and at first was outraged.. Then reading it again, I am not too sure..

Is it pandering to the extremists, taking reconciliation too far or JUST POLITICS....

Your thoughts.........................

The US military is to release all detainees linked to a Shia extremist group that kidnapped five British men two years ago. Four of the hostages are thought to be dead.

General Ray Odierno, the top US commander in Iraq, plans to release all members of Asaib al-Haq — League of the Righteous — as part of what he called a wider reconciliation process in the divided country. The number of detained group members is believed to be between 300 and 400.

The bodies of two of the British hostages have been recovered but Peter Moore, a computer consultant, is the only captive who might still be alive.

The main demand of the kidnap group has been the release of ten people held in US detention. The latest move by the US could lead to the release of Mr Moore, if he is still alive, and the handing over of the missing bodies.

“This is about reconciliation,” General Odierno said. “We believe Asaib al-Haq has taken initial steps to reconcile with the Government of Iraq.”

The US military had hoped to prosecute anyone who attacked its troops through the Iraqi judicial system but in many cases officials were unable to do so.

“We have to have evidence,” General Odierno told The New York Times. “There’s intelligence \ there’s evidence. Those are two completely different things.” He insisted that “anybody who has blood on their hands will be tried in Iraqi courts” but had to concede that no such moves were currently under way.

Ful article : http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article6801281.ece