redblueamerica.com

All three major presidential candidates have suggested they'll close down the Guantanamo Bay prison when they take office The L.A. Times this morning suggests a number of them could end up in my back yard -- at Fort Leavenworth -- but that legal complications could ensue:

Because there is little evidence against them that could be used in a U.S. court, government officials fear that a federal judge could order them freed. "Then you would have 100-plus future sleeper-cell members unleashed in Kansas," for instance, said the midlevel official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity. "That is what the government is trying to prevent."

The midlevel official is trying to scare you -- me, actually, since I live here -- but he's also probably lying.

What are the chances that a Gitmo prisoner would be freed on legal technicalities and allowed to walk out the front gates of Fort Leavenworth to disappear into the crowd?

Zilch. That's what.

Said prisoners would probably be deported back to their home countries. Failing that, I doubt they'd ever be able to take three steps in America that weren't closely watched by authorities.

There's going to be plenty of NIMBYism if the feds ever try to bring the Gitmo prisoners to Kansas. One of the fears is that Fort Leavenworth would become a tantalizing target for terrorists on the outside. That's a harder one to discount. But the idea that prisoners would be dispersed into the population with a shrug is plainly false, and shouldn't be an impediment to closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay.