Gitmo Should Close Up Shop
Congress blocked Obama's executive order to close Gitmo and it's been a standstill ever since.
The detainees need to be prosecuted and either executed or released. Let us be done with them already. Approximately 600 detainees have been transferred out in the past nine years, with 173 remaining; and the U.S. pays $4,085 annually to occupy the Cuban soil. Also, here is a breakdown of the prisoners by nationality: http://projects.nytimes.com/guantanamo (Afghanis and Saudis being the biggest offenders). In bullet points, here's why Gitmo needs to be shut down:
- The U.S. is fostering a terrorist cell.
- On enemy soil.
- Many prisoners are kept in legal limbo.
- It is a hotbed for human rights/Geneva Convention violations.
- The U.S. has extracted relatively little intelligence from the facility.
Recently, McCain and other Senators sent a letter to new Defense Secretary Panetta this past week, inquiring about the U.S. detention policies of terrorists. Military commissions have addressed some of the detainees this year, which is a step in the right direction; but so far, the process has been excruciatingly slow and encumbering. (If it was up to me, I would send the tried and guilty to the "brush fires" in Texas.)
In sum, the detainee camp is wholly counterproductive to US national security and values.
(CS Monitor)
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