The problem isn't the outcome, but the mess that will now ensue because of some silly political maneuvering.
Where do they go? If we divide them up and send them to other federal prisons, they will not only have special needs in some cases, but also will require protected from other inmates.
This is the problem: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zacarias_Moussaoui
A French citizen which once in a civilian court makes things more complex, requiring special needs and security in prison, a trail that became a joke that he used to spew his ideology........ Now multiply this times 250. In addition to that, there are security concerns reference our own intelligence collection techniques, sources etc. There will be a high price for this in dollars and cents as resources will be pumped into making this happen, even if this isn't disclosed and forgotten by a media. But all of this was trumped by some words that felt really good. The DoD and DoJ as well as others will “make it work,” but in hind sight the question that the media should really ask and isn't is “How much sense does all this really make?”
Very little threat of ever escaping, contaminating others with their ideology, efficiently kept where all have similar needs, tried in a court that can easily deal with classified materials, in a location where they have less access to the media and can stir the pot, less........, GITMO somehow became a “symbolic” rallying point around which the Bush haters, antiwar pundits, and Muslim apologists rallied.
Listen to the arguments for closing GITMO. They make no sense. They're all about feelings. These people aren't POWs, they're not American citizens. They committed their crimes in distant foreign countries for the most part. Some were picked up on the battlefield in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, or handed over by other nations. Many of these people would have been hung or shot on the spot years past when picked up on a battlefield wearing no uniform, fighting under no flag, and essentially engaging in acts of violence that if they were soldiers would be deemed war crimes. If you look at every single argument these people throw out against GITMO you see it's ALL based on “I feel it's wrong because the US Constitution..... I feel it's wrong because they are POWs...... I feel it's wrong because we torture there....... I feel it's wrong because XYZ.” It's all trash, but closing GITMO makes many people feel good.
With these guys you never know when "someone" will decide they need to be martyred in order that their "brothers" get out of the prison. Or that the "brothers" have turn apostate and need to be "taken care of".
All that would be very hard to do at GitMo. Not so hard at a stateside prison, even at a supermax. Now maybe someplace like Alcatraz.. or a new "Devils Island".
There are a couple of small islands in the Hawaiian chain that might work. Including the one that served for years as a bombing range.