Posted on 02/23/2016 1:19:51 PM PST by jazusamo
Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz said Tuesday that President Obama is pushing to shutter the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, detention facility as final gift to the Castros before leaving office.
"I believe that President Obama intends to try to give the Guantanamo naval facility to Raul and Fidel Castro as a parting gift," Cruz told a couple hundred voter in Nevada, according to The Washington Post .
"Four decades ago, Jimmy Carter gave away the Panama Canal. We built it, we paid for it, and then a feckless left-wing president gave it away to undermine this country. Well, Mr. President, you don't have the authority to give away vital military assets!" Cruz added, according to the newspaper.
Republican presidential rival Marco Rubio, also campaigning in Nevada on the day of the GOP caucuses, mentioned the possibility of the military prison ending up in the hands of the Cuban government.
"This makes no sense to me," Rubio told supporters at a rally in Las Vegas. "We are not giving back an important naval base to an anti-American communist dictatorship."
The White House has repeatedly indicated such a move is off the table, but the Republican senators -- both of Cuban descent -- are using the opportunity to criticize the president ahead of his visit to Cuba in March.
Cruz and Rubio both noted that those being held at the facility are enemy combatants, with Rubio stressing they not be released and Cruz suggesting "some new terrorists" join them at the facility.
Obama's plan submitted to Congress proposes moving between 30 to 60 of the remaining 91 detainees at the facility in Cuba to a new facility in the U.S. More than a dozen options have been proposed.
The Pentagon began looking last year at locations in the U.S. where the prisoners could be held, including looking at federal sites in Colorado, South Carolina and Kansas.
"Not only are we not going to close Guantanamo, when I am president, if we capture a terrorist alive, they are not getting a court hearing in Manhattan. They are not going to be sent to Nevada. They are going to Guantanamo and we are going to find out everything they know," Rubio said Tuesday.
Ex-Guantánamo Detainee Arrested with Islamic State Terror Cell in Spain
Nope.
Parting Gift to Ayman al-Zawahiri.
And, following along on that theme, you can bet that CHINA or Russia would be happy to come in and take over the facility.
Yeah, but Rubio wants to leave the southern border open so terrorists can continue to just walk in, as they already do.
trump kamizee-squadron in-coming in 3 .. 2 .. 1 ...
“when I am president, if we capture a terrorist alive, they are not getting a court hearing in Manhattan”
I want his and Hillary’s trials here in Texas. :)
Trump will re-open it, expand it, make Cuba pay for rennovations, and put Hillary in it after she is convicted!
Pretty sure Trump, Cruz, and Rubio are all in agreement here.
If that research is correct, it would be a treaty. Wouldn't the US Senate have to agree to a change in the treaty?
Perhaps someone more knowledgeable can add some information.
Cruz and Trump both should respond with:
When I am elected President, Gitmo will be immediately re-opened and used exclusively for Administration Officials Found GUILTY OF ANY FEDERAL CRIME!!
Ted is 110% correct on this.
You can be sure if he tries to give it back, the Congress will sit back on their a**es and do nothing.
As CIC couldn’t Obama just order the military to withdraw and abandon the post? Leave all the prisoners behind? Then the Cubans could come in and do with them as they will.
Dump Gitmo, it’s like a Caribbean resort for these muzzies.
Northern Alaska baby.
I have no doubt that he would like to, I know he can’t legally, I just hope that he can’t do it anyway.
Jesus, you Cruz people bitch every way you can, dont you?
The silver lining would be President Trump, for sure.
Move the Gitmo terrorists to the Soylent dog food processing center; or reactivate the Fort Jefferson Military Prison on Garden Key in the Dry Tortugas and ship them there.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.