Posted on 05/02/2009 11:04:03 AM PDT by freespirited
In one of his first acts as president, in an example of putting the cart way, way out in front of the horse, Barack Obama issued an order closing the detention facility used to house suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
What neither the order then nor the administration now have resolved is the problem of what to do with the detainees once the Gitmo facility is closed. One alternative, which has been much in the news, has been to transfer them to facilities inside the United States, where they can either be tried or released into the general population.
Predictably, this idea does not sit well with any number of folks who fear the possibility of having a suspected terrorist for a neighbor.
Obama has given the responsibility for coming up with a plan to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who spent some time out of the country this week in pursuit of a solution. On Wednesday, he took his plea for assistance to Germany where, in a speech at the American Academy in Berlin, he asked our European allies to take in detainees whom the United States does not consider to be a present security threat in order to accelerate the Gitmo facility's closure.
"I know that Europe did not open Guantanamo and that in fact a great many on this continent opposed it," Holder said in his remarks. "To close Guantanamo, we must all make sacrifices, and we must all be willing to make unpopular choices."
But the fact that Holder is looking to find places for the detainees to relocate means the cart is still out in front of the horse. Any sensible solution to the problem of what to do with the detainees must involve identifying and tracking the movements of those who are released to make sure they maintain their good behavior.
If Congressional Republicans were smart, they would take this issue up rather than rise to the bait the Democrats are dangling concerning whether, and how, any of these detainees might have been tortured. The issue, for most of the American people, is not whether these detainees were tortured—even if most of us reject the idea that it was OK to do so—but what they might do once they are back in circulation.
Rep. John Shadegg, an Arizona Republican, has introduced legislation that would block them from applying for U.S. citizenship should they be released into this country or even if they are transferred to the United States but remain in government custody.
That's a good first step, but it doesn't go far enough. What the GOP and any security-minded Democrats should really do is insist, and get it written into law, that the U.S. Department of Justice or the FBI needs to keep an eye on the detainees once they are released and submit to Congress once per quarter—perhaps to the members of the Senate and House Intelligence Committees—a report on their activities for a fixed period, say five years. Treat the detainees like they are on parole. And, if any of them are rearrested or caught engaging in acts of terror against the United States or its interests, that their names—and the fact that they were once held as suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay—be made a matter of public record.
The shock of 9-11 has faded, but the memory hasn't. America needs to be reassured that the Obama administration is doing everything it should to keep us safe from another attack. Letting the Gitmo detainees loose in the United States or anywhere else without any kind of supervision is several steps in exactly the wrong direction.
Release them in San Francisco and Ithaca. That should be good enough.
Or better still, release them in Times Square (with camera coverage). NYC may be Liberal Ground Zero, but it is also 9/11 Ground Zero and I am willing to bet these “liberals” would be happy to give up their kumbaya philosophy for a few hours while they reenact “The Running Man” for a few hours.
I would strongly suggest that since the left wing think that these guys are just misunderstood, than they be divided and placed into the city jails of San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and the District of Columbia.
Of course, the residents of those bastions of incivility and abject stupidity will no doubt blame Bush for making these poor unfortunates what they are.
So let the left wing loons deal with them. If they bring them to the central plains were I live, we’re all armed and excellent shots and we can deal with them as they should have been dealt with in the first place.
Actually they should be treated like sex offenders and have their names and faces published for all to see. I mean if
one was to die in a terrible panty on head accident it would be just too bad.
If they were released into the general population it would
have to be under the witness protection program, wouldn’t that be a bitch!
Release them in Texas, and allow me and my fellow Texans to dispose of them properly.
It is inconceivable that our government would release these enemies of the USA in to the general population. We have people running our government that do not have an understanding of who are enemies are and how dangerous they are. No question about it, the inmates are running the insane asylum.
D.C. is THE place for them to be — they would feel right at home among the destroyers of America.
Why wouldn’t he let them go? They hate America only marginally more than most of his staff.
but then, neither should Americans be subjugated to nationalizeaboarding, socializaboarding, fascistaboarding, stagflationaboarding, ShredConstutionboarding,
If they are “safe” enough to release in this country, then they should be given staff jobs in the Obama White House.
“Yes we can!”
-Obama campaign slogan
Well if we send them to American Universities they’ll feel right at home. :)
I have a suggestion: Ship them back to the theatre of operations where they were picked up. Then tell them to run as hell. We’ll give them a head start of 1 minute. Followed by target practice. There, that should resolve the Guantanamo issue and where to ship them when it is closed. In order to not deal with this “non-combattant status” BS in the future, i suggest they all be executed on the spot. take no prisoners. Any questions?
Can’t put them in jails.
the administration now have resolved is the problem of what to do with the detainees once the Gitmo facility is closed. ............................... If I may, can’t we just have the relatives of the victims of 9-11 decide their fate? I suggest possibly placing them on an small uncharted island with an active volcano. Drop them off in the center of the crater. :^)
>>Release them in Texas, and allow me and my fellow Texans to dispose of them properly.
I like that idea a LOT!
“Pull!”
“It’s good to be a Texan.”
:)
The reporter betrays his leftdolt bias with this garbage: “even if most of us reject the idea that it was OK to do so.” But even he can see the stupidity of zero’s handling of Gitmo. Maybe there is hope...
One of these terrorists may have been the killer of my Marine Lieutenant Nephew.
And now this piece of crap president wants to release them in to our society and take money I’ve earned for my family and give it to these through welfare?
This “magic negro” has to go.
>>If they are “safe” enough to release in this country, then they should be given staff jobs in the Obama White House.
They are not qualified: they were in Gitmo when they should have been cheating on their taxes.
Give them ICE uniforms and drop them across the border ;-)
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