Posted on 05/24/2009 10:27:18 AM PDT by jazusamo
Debate over the Guantanamo prison dominated the Sunday morning talk shows, as Democrats insisted they are committed to closing the controversial facility.
Democrats said prisoners could be safely held at high security U.S. prisons, a proposal attacked by Republicans as compromising national security.
The debate continued to highlight divisions in both parties on what to do with the 240 detainees left in Cuba. The issue, left over from the Bush administration, has emerged as one of the toughest challenges for President Obama.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) both said 347 convicted terrorists are already safely being held in U.S. prisons, which shows that dangerous detainees can be held in the U.S. without posing a security threat.
They received backing for this view from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen.
"We have terrorists in jail right now...have had some for some time," Mullen said on ABC¹s ³This Week.² "They are in supermax prisons and they don't pose a threat."
Still, Boxer demurred when she was asked on CNN¹s ³State of the Union,² whether detainees should be held in prisons in California.
"Well, we only have one maximum security prison in California, and it's right now overbooked," she said. "That's the case."
Members of both parties are reluctant to have detainees moved to prisons in their states and districts, a fact highlighted this week when the Senate in a 90-6 vote rejected including funds in a spending bill to close Guantanamo.
A day after the vote, Obama, who wants Guantanamo closed by January 2010, said some of the detainees still held in Guantanamo would need to be imprisoned in the U.S. While Obama said the U.S. would not release any detainees who might endanger national security, he said the government would seek to transfer some detainees to highly secure prisons within the U.S.
The not-in-my-backyard spirit exemplified by the Senate vote is a big problem for Obama, as it will be difficult for the U.S. to convince foreign governments to accept detainees unless the U.S. houses some of them.
Mullen said he believes Guantanamo can be closed on Obama¹s timeline. "I have advocated for a long time now that it needs to be closed," he said. "We are all working very hard to meet that deadline."
Durbin, debating the issue with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) on NBC's "Meet the Press," said Guantanamo has damaged U.S. security be serving as a recruitment tool for terrorists.
Gingrich and other Republicans, however, used Sunday appearances to press their argument that it would be safer to keep detainees at the controversial prison rather than closing it.
"You have to keep them isolated," Gingrich said. "These are bad people who want to destroy America. And if they are not isolated they are going to actively engage in terrorist planning."
Durbin, echoing Obama¹s speech, dismissed that argument as the politics of "fear."
On "Fox News Sunday," Sen. Jon Kyle (R-Ariz.), the Senate Minority Whip, said Obama "can't convince me" to close the prison if it means bringing any of the 240 detainees currently there to prisons in the United States.
"There is nothing wrong with the prison in Gitmo," Kyl said.
Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) also argued the prison should be kept open on CNN.
Both parties are divided on the issues of closing Guantanamo, and on what to do with the remaining detainees. Closing Guantanamo was not an issue during the 2008 presidential campaign because Obama and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the GOP¹s presidential candidate, were both in favor of closing it.
Other Republicans who favor closing Guantanamo including former Secretary of State Colin Powell. He said Sunday that former Vice President Dick Cheney is disagreeing with former President Bush¹s policy in arguing that the camp should be kept open. Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge also supports closing Guantanamo.
On the Democratic side, House Intelligence panel member Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) is working on legislation that would keep the camp open, and several Democrats have announced opposition to sending any of the remaining detainees to the U.S.
What makes Babs think other states aren't in the same fix.
I think we should close Gitmo. Pull out the guards, lock the gates and blow it to hell.
That’s what the terrorists there deserve.
Thanks, McCain and Powell, for giving the rats and their media arm the argument that “Well, highly placed Republicans support it too”. Thanks a lot. Especially as you’re not representative of the opinion of most Republicans, but you are allowing yourselves to held up as the Republican spokesmen.
Amen to that!
This Jacobs guy doesn’t really reflect the true feeling by Dems or Repubs in this article, IMO. He puts forth the majority of pols and people want Gitmo closed but I think it’s the opposite.
Bringing them to the US will greatly increase their chances for release. With all the Liberal Lawyers out there, bringing them to your state is foolish.
Well said, and that’s exactly what will happen should they be brought here, IMO.
You are correct. Obama knows his military tribunals won’t be allowed on US soil by our judiciary.
Or even more insidious, they will engage in terrorist recruitment at the prison level. The Gitmo terrorists may never get out, but eventually these new recruits will.
Sheer folly to close Gitmo.
Good point, there have been many articles about recruitment and training of terrorists in our prisons. These Gitmo terrorists would be more than happy to train others here at home so they would absolutely have to be isolated from other prisoners and there’s no guaranty that would happen.
These are in no way POWs. They forfeited any rights of the Geneva Convention when they were wearing civilian clothing while fighting a war - they were causing battlefield mayhem. That’s why they’ve been classified “enemy combatants.”
The Geneva Convention is for civilized nations fighting a war governed by rules. There is no protection for people who fight out of uniform or commit atrocities. They must also wear their own country’s uniform - if they infiltrate wearing the enemy’s uniform, they also lose the protection.
That said, they should have been lined up and shot on site. We wouldn’t have to worry about all this legal wrangling.
The problem the world assumedly is arguing, is that these people are imprisoned with no trial, and no chance of getting one. Moving them to another prison will not solve the problem which is, that other terrorists want them set free to join the band of Muslims once more.
Time for some Club Gitmo t-shirts, etc.
I guess what I got out of Obama’s speech was “TAKE NO PRISONERS”. I’m tired of supporting those terrorists in their jumpsuits. We can close Gitmo. Put all of them in a rubber ducky & push them out to sea toward their homeland. If they decide to do an about face, have the Navy Seals in place to pick them off.
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.