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Guantánamo Has Cost Billions; Whistleblower Alleges 'Gross' Waste
npr.org ^ | September 11, 2019 | SACHA PFEIFFER

Posted on 09/11/2019 3:18:31 PM PDT by ransomnote

An NPR investigation finds that the military court and prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, have cost taxpayers billions of dollars, with billions more expected. (Above) An American flag is seen through the war crimes courtroom at the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo Bay on Oct. 17, 2012.

Michelle Shepard/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The U.S. military court and prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, have cost more than $6 billion to operate since opening nearly 18 years ago and still churn through more than $380 million a year despite housing only 40 prisoners today.

Included in that amount are taxpayer-funded charter planes often flying just a few passengers to and from the island; hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of government electronic devices intentionally destroyed each year due to spills of classified information; some Pentagon-funded defense attorneys billing about half-a-million dollars a year; and total legal costs of nearly $60 million annually even though Guantánamo has had only one finalized conviction.

Criticism of that spending comes even from inside Guantánamo. A former top attorney there has filed a federal whistleblower complaint alleging "gross financial waste" and "gross mismanagement," NPR has learned.

Retired Air Force Col. Gary Brown also claims that he and the former head of the military court were fired because they were negotiating a controversial cost-saving proposal with defense lawyers: allow Guantánamo prisoners — including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his four co-defendants in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks — to plead guilty in exchange for life in prison rather than face the death penalty. Such plea deals, Brown says, "would stop wasting resources."

MORE AT LINK

(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: gitmo; guantnamo
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To: ransomnote

Billions of dollars is what it cost to poke a stick in the eye of communist dictators for decades.


21 posted on 09/11/2019 4:30:19 PM PDT by Rebelbase
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To: Rebelbase

Funny how these assholes are still alive waiting for a death penalty trial, and poor old Jeff Epstein couldn’t be kept alive for 2 months. All we have to do is leak out that the Clinton’s have molested Iraqi children and let the Clinton Death Squads take their course.


22 posted on 09/11/2019 4:56:14 PM PDT by Bommer (2020 - Vote all incumbent congressmen and senators out! VOTE THE BUMS OUT!!!)
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To: FatherofFive

And members of the media.


23 posted on 09/11/2019 5:43:53 PM PDT by reasonisfaith (What are the implications if the Resurrection of Christ is a true event in history?)
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To: ransomnote

Tulammo Centerfire Handgun FMJ TA401800 50 rounds $0.22/rd $10.99
You have 10 left over for the traitors in the democrat party.


24 posted on 09/11/2019 6:06:32 PM PDT by minnesota_bound
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To: FatherofFive

It is so much cheaper and better to just kill them in the field. Gather the evidence and use the content because anything they say is probably a lie anyway and their lawyers are a conduit for them to stay in touch.


25 posted on 09/11/2019 6:11:13 PM PDT by Oldexpat (Jobs Not Mobs)
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To: ransomnote

Do something.


26 posted on 09/11/2019 7:00:38 PM PDT by TBP (Progressives lack compassion and tolerance. Their self-aggrandizement is all that matters.)
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To: ransomnote

It figures. Government wastes money.


27 posted on 09/11/2019 7:01:23 PM PDT by TBP (Progressives lack compassion and tolerance. Their self-aggrandizement is all that matters.)
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To: rktman

$10,000 worth of lumber could build a gallows. And $1,000 worth of new rope to hang them with.

Please forward my check for 1% of the total cost savings to Freerepublic.com


28 posted on 09/11/2019 7:08:35 PM PDT by shotgun
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To: ransomnote

Not a whistle blower if it is after your fired.


29 posted on 09/11/2019 7:21:19 PM PDT by dgbrown
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To: ransomnote

It’s gonna be 20 years before KSM goes to trial. Now I’d like someone - anyone - to explain why that is...


30 posted on 09/11/2019 7:53:34 PM PDT by bigbob (Trust Trump. Trust the Plan.)
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To: ransomnote

I gotta admit, it has been a gross waste. They all should have been hanged during George W Bush’s administration.


31 posted on 09/12/2019 6:20:23 AM PDT by chesley (What is life but a long dialog with imbeciles? - Pierre Ryckmans)
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To: ransomnote

I say we keep it open for all the traitors that have spat on the American people.

Start prosecuting them, send them there and make them actually do labor for once in their wretched existence.


32 posted on 09/12/2019 6:27:31 AM PDT by dforest (Just shut up Obama. Maybe everyone should just shut up, even you baggybutt!)
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To: ransomnote

After the prisoners are there for five years, since they will never see home again, spend the money for a month’s mre’s, a warm coat, and drop them in Denali park, at the beginning of winter!!


33 posted on 09/12/2019 9:28:12 AM PDT by Terry L Smith (.)
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