Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Republican Senator Suggests Closing Gitmo
Newsmax.com ^ | 06/13/2005 | NHAntiMassRedRebel

Posted on 06/13/2005 12:47:09 PM PDT by NHAntiMassRedRebel

KEY WEST, Fla. - Sen. Mel Martinez said the Bush administration should consider closing the Guantanamo Bay prison for terrorism suspects - the first high-profile Republican to make the suggestion.

"It's become an icon for bad stories and at some point you wonder the cost-benefit ratio," Martinez said Friday. "How much do you get out of having that facility there? Is it serving all the purposes you thought it would serve when initially you began it, or can this be done some other way a little better?"

Martinez, who strongly supported Bush's efforts in Iraq during his campaign last year, also expressed concerns about progress in the war.

"I am discouraged by how long it has taken for us to begin to draw down some forces," Martinez, R-Fla., said at the annual Florida Society of Newspaper Editors/Florida Press Association convention.

"It brings home the importance of the decision to send men and women to go to war," he said. "It has become a foreign fighters' war against us there and the progress seems slow and difficult."

(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: gitmo; melmartinez
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-36 last
To: Jersey Republican Biker Chick

Yeah, once they see we mean them no harm, we can all be friends and have cookies and milk.


21 posted on 06/13/2005 2:09:11 PM PDT by travlnmn41
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: NHAntiMassRedRebel

Martinez says he is 'disappointed' that it is taking so long to draw down our number of troops in Iraq. I thought they were doing just that?


22 posted on 06/13/2005 2:11:05 PM PDT by MEGoody (Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ambrose

Well you may be right, but then again I bet if we looked really hard we could find a deserted Island with little or no water and damned little to eat and just maroon them there without having to furnish guards. Please keep the location secret .


23 posted on 06/13/2005 2:13:44 PM PDT by sgtbono2002
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: conserv13

Yes and many of the ones we sent back have rejoined the terrorists.


24 posted on 06/13/2005 2:14:32 PM PDT by sgtbono2002
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: NHAntiMassRedRebel

Martinez... didn't his staff try to politicize Terry Schiavo?


25 posted on 06/13/2005 2:41:50 PM PDT by USAfearsnobody
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: citizencon

rehab facility in Vegas......complete with a babbling brook, heated swimming pool, private cook, and personal trainer so they won't get out of shape when they return to their terrorist activities.


26 posted on 06/13/2005 2:57:50 PM PDT by Bush gal in LA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: NHAntiMassRedRebel

I am beginning to think they coiuld close Gitmo--and send 'em all someplace the'd fit in like maybe Washington D.C.--or Northern Cal. ; or maybe Oregon or Massachussets.


27 posted on 06/13/2005 2:59:32 PM PDT by StonyBurk
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ElPatriota

RINO=coward, sniveling maggot-infested anti-American.


28 posted on 06/13/2005 3:05:10 PM PDT by brushcop (Remember SFC David Salie, a gentle giant of a man KIA (2-14-05) Iraq fighting for their liberty.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: NHAntiMassRedRebel
"Republican Senator Suggests Closing Gitmo"

Not a bad idea. Let's close GiTMO and re-open Alcatraz. No guards. Just drop food and water and let them fight it out daily.

29 posted on 06/13/2005 3:15:41 PM PDT by Enterprise (Coming soon from Newsweek: "Fallujah - we had to destroy it in order to save it.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: WoodstockCat

I just find it kinda suspect that he's the only Republican senator to jump across the aisle on this one. Yes, topically you're correct. It's an open ended question. But then when it's asked the Democrats seize on that and use it to punch holes in it. Martinez isn't stupid. He knew they would do that.

To go public with that question in this political day and age was pretty RINO in my opinion. It gave aid and comfort to the enemy (the left) and allowed them to punch holes in GITMO. And considering that he's the only Senator to do so from the right I think says something significant about him: he's willing to break ranks with the unified front of the Republican party of today which has gotten successful by settling it's differences behind closed doors.

Think Chaffee, Bob Smith, and Jeffords and their actions over the years and you might see the trend I'm talking about. The one common thread that they had was they let their enemies see weakness and it was seized upon. Most of all, they knew it at their respective times and didn't care. Hence, RINO.

Plus, the ACLU is lauding him for his "courage". That alone is enough for me!


30 posted on 06/13/2005 3:41:03 PM PDT by NHAntiMassRedRebel (Our only fault is that we're 40 minutes north of Boston.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: manic4organic

I don't know. You tell me.


31 posted on 06/13/2005 3:42:04 PM PDT by NHAntiMassRedRebel (Our only fault is that we're 40 minutes north of Boston.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: NHAntiMassRedRebel
Yes, his "constituents" may be calling him.

On the other hand.. I wonder if one of Hillary's 600 FBI Files has a name on it.. like this Republican. Things are, in fact, being "shaken" down in the state of NC.

Lessee... first President Clinton removes manufacturing and textiles (NC prime industry) from NC and gives them to... CHINA.

Then...

32 posted on 06/13/2005 4:06:59 PM PDT by Alia
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: vbmoneyspender
The MSM and most of the Dim's want us stop the "war on terror" and go back to Clinton model of treating terror attacks like normal crimes , since Clinton was so successful at fighting terror.
33 posted on 06/13/2005 4:20:42 PM PDT by texasmountainman (proud father of a U.S. Marine)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: NHAntiMassRedRebel
If the detainees are moved to another location, that will quickly become the focus of the media attacks. I thought the advantage of Guantanamo Bay was that U.S. legal protections don't apply because it isn't U.S. territory...if moved elsewhere, the prisoners would have an easier time filing frivolous lawsuits.

Maybe we can lease some land from Israel in the Negev and move the prisoners there. Or there could be an uninhabited island in French Polynesia we could lease from France--that is almost exactly on the opposite site of the globe from Mecca, so the prisoners would never be able to figure out which direction to face when they prayed.

34 posted on 06/13/2005 5:17:21 PM PDT by Verginius Rufus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NHAntiMassRedRebel

And here I figured it'd be McCain.


35 posted on 06/13/2005 9:27:26 PM PDT by festus (The constitution may be flawed but its a whole lot better than what we have now.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Verginius Rufus

According to Amnesty International, there is an "archipelago" of "secret prisons" all over the world run by our government in which detainees are deprived of "lawyers" and in violation of the Geneva convention.

I think that the whole logic behind Amnesty International and the reasoning of the ACLU is that we should treat our enemies as equals and try to amend them by extending to them our Constitutional Rights.

That is ludicrous and dangerous to assume. These people aren't dumb. They know all about our Constitution and would spit on it if given the opportunity.


36 posted on 06/15/2005 11:00:52 AM PDT by NHAntiMassRedRebel (Our only fault is that we're 40 minutes north of Boston.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-36 last

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson