Posted on 08/20/2015 5:52:45 PM PDT by Citizen Zed
Pentagon chief Ashton Carter issued a strong statement Thursday in support of closing the United States military prison at Guantanamo Bay.
At a press conference at the Pentagon, Carter said the military prison in Cuba should be closed before President Barack Obama leaves his post in 2016.
“This is not something, in my judgment, that we should leave to the next president,” Carter said, according to AFP.
The defense secretary's reasons for wanting to close Guantanamo — something Obama made a cornerstone of his campaign back in 2009 — are manifold.
"As long as this detention facility remains open, it will remain a rallying cry for jihadi propaganda," Carter said. "It's expensive. ... And not something the president wants to leave to his successor."
Congress has previously opposed measures to transfer detainees to the US mainland.
"Our responsibility is to provide [Congress] with a plan that they can consider that is a responsible one so that people ... can make up their minds," Carter said.
If and when Guantanamo does close, some of the remaining prisoners are to be transferred to other countries while others will likely be headed to US soil.
Carter said the most promising transfer sites on US soil include the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., and the naval brig at Charleston, S.C.
"That does not mean those sites will be chosen," he added, according to USA Today.
(Excerpt) Read more at globalpost.com ...
Yup and yup.
“Let’s keep Gitmo and move The Dictator into it.”
the kenyan and the cuban??
Wasn’t that part of the deal with Castro?
Yep, the only way we can make them stop hating us and wanting to kill us is if we kill them first.
I bet he gives it all to the Castros. Carter gave away the Canal. Hussein has to give away Gitmo.
Carter has his head far up Obama’s rear
Dictator Obama was who I was referring to; however, he
might enjoy Castro as a roommate.
They used to call that TREASON
You are correct sir. Unfortunately, to liberals, socialists and communists, that same treason, is now called patriotism. I don't think I like these slime balls much.
Zer0 should “GO TO” GITMO.
“Our responsibility is to provide [Congress] with a plan that they can consider that is a responsible one so that people ... can make up their minds,” Carter said.
And if they “make up their minds” and say, “No,” you gonna honor that, Kelso?
Yes..I think its only fitting that Dictator Obama spend his twilight years in Gitmo...sharing a cell with a rotting Dictator Fidel Castro
Ashton Carter? Is he military or a civilian?
Sounds like a wimp, like Ashley Wilkes.
If he’s knuckling to Obunga on a hare-brained idea, he IS a wimp.
There are no renatl “arrears”. The US has paid the Cuban govt. the rent every year. Castro proudly has put the checks in a drawer and not deposited them. That does not mean the US has not paid, NOR does it mean the US “owes” anything to Cuba for Gitmo, the base. There is a fixed treaty on this subject, and the treaty must be dissolved for this “return” to ever occur. It is not a presidential power to dissolve a treaty.
renatl= rental.
Perhaps the Republicans can pass another law that lets them lose the issue to a presidential veto with the inability to override it.
That seems pretty popular with the GOPe.
Bunch of traitors want to give Cuba the naval base before the man of mystery leaves office.
Another Carter. Isn’t that just peachy. The last one gave away the Panama Canal. This one wants to give Castro the strategic naval base.
Gitmo is un-American. If we are better than they are we must behave that way and respect basic human rights such as due process. Indefinite detention without charges is not the American way, nor should we ever want it to be.
If we believe human beings must be treated with a baseline of dignity as our founding documents, laws, and treaties to which we have agreed claim, then we need to walk the walk. That is an inherent part of the way of life we are fighting to maintain. If we lose our cultural inheritance, the enemy wins.
How expensive is it ...I mean, without the fluff ?
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/02/28/guantanamo-detainees-get-new-750g-soccer-field/
From another source
“It’s not even nice — just a dirt patch, goal posts and chalk lines — all surrounded by a fence with green mesh around it.
There’s also the cost of up to four halal meals a day — far more expensive than for our own troops. Imported dates and honey, roasted meats, sides of olives and cheese at every meal, if that’s what the detainees want.
And then there’s all the treadmills, stationary bikes, Wii-Fits, TVs, Al-Jazeera satellite broadcasts, recreation centers, art classes, and a 10,000-volume library, where J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series was the most popular for years, only recently eclipsed by “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” videos.?
Let’s not forget the jet-setting “special envoy for gitmo closure” and deputy assistant secretary of defense overseeing detainee policy who racked up another $17 million to review cases for the hundredth time, and trotted around the globe looking for desperate countries to take in al Qaeda and Taliban suspects in exchange for who knows what.”
Money appropriated by Congress for un-built fiber-optic cable: $31 million
U.S. Army costs for operations and maintenance, including contract intelligence analysts, librarians and linguists: $61.5 million
U.S. Navy costs for detainee operations security: $46.5 million
Money paid to Naval Base Guantanamo: $67.4 million
Military Commissions complex, including security, translation, flights from DC: $121.8 million
Review boards for 71 Guantanamo detainees not cleared for release: $15.1 million
Holy Moley.
That money could buy a LOT of cell phones for ACORN.(sarc.)
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