Over the last two years, thousands of Iraqi detainees have been released from prisons in compliance with Iraq's 2008 general amnesty law and the U.S.-Iraq Security Agreement that was enforced in January 2009. Following the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraqi cities in June, and the upsurge in violence in several provinces -- mainly Baghdad, Ninawa, and Diyala -- the Iraqi government has repeatedly blamed prisoner releases for providing al-Qaida in Iraq (AQI) with new opportunities to stage high-profile attacks.
