Gitmo
The Associated Press

A guard stands duty at Guantanamo Bay's prison fo rsuspected terrorists.

Featured Topic | Posted 19 weeks 2 days ago

Is it time to shut down Guantanamo Bay prison?

A wave of change appears headed toward the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, with all three major presidential candidates vowing to abolish the military prison. And somewhat surprisingly, closing the camp and moving the prisoners to the United States may be the easy part, said U.S. officials, former administration aides and legal experts. But nobody has yet found a way through the legal thicket in the way. Especially vexing are scores of foreign detainees: Officials lack evidence to prosecute, but warn against setting them free. What should the United States do with Guantanamo Bay prison?

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Ben likes: What follows Gitmo

Ed Morrissey/Hot Air

Closing Gitmo takes no effort at all, but that's only the beginning -- and it reveals that the real issue has never been Guantanamo Bay at all. The real issue, one all three presidential candidates have avoided, is whether we release known terrorists and allow them the opportunity to attack us again.

In closing Gitmo, we have two choices. One would be to ship the detainees to another detention facility outside of the U.S., which would only be a geographical change. It would win us nothing in terms of international approval, and would likely be much less secure than Gitmo. The second choice would be to bring the detainees to the U.S. and either use the civilian courts or get Congress to approve indeterminate detention without trial inside the U.S. -- essentially recognizing the danger the terrorists pose and treating them like we treat them now at Gitmo, using military tribunals instead of courts.

Again, this would only be a change in location, and hardly a salutary one at that for Americans.

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Joel likes: Beyond Guantanamo

Jonathan Hafetz/The Nation

Let's start by stating the obvious: Guantánamo is not just a prison. It is an entirely new kind of penal institution that perfectly embodies the Administration's new paradigm for a never-ending, ubiquitous "war on terror."

At Guantánamo, individuals are held indefinitely as "enemy combatants," a term that conjures images of captured enemy soldiers. In fact, the government's own data shows that the majority of prisoners at Guantánamo never took up arms against the United States or engaged in hostile conduct toward this country. The cells at Guantánamo are full of civilians, many of whom were seized in places like Bosnia and Gambia, thousands of miles from any battlefield.

As they seek to repair the damage and recast the future, America's leaders should look beyond Guantánamo and remember the commitment to justice that made this country great for more than two centuries. The question is not whether America should imprison terrorists. It is whether America will treat all accused persons consistently with its Constitution and values.

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Thoughts

Prisons...

Submitted on April 15th, 2008 by Knightmare

... like GITMO and Abu Gharib only serve to create the enemies we're looking for. Chances are if you *weren't* a terrorist before being thrown in there, you've given it a long hard thought by the time you get out. And if you know someone in there, you start to gnash your teeth.

Armchair warriors can argue that we need holding facilities for suspected terrorists all day and not convince me that GITMO, in particular, does anything to increase our national safety. All I see happening is extra-territorial legal shenanigans, Military Tribunals, and water-boardings (read: torture sessions) that reflect shamefully upon our nation.

We already know that al Qaeda recruits in our prisons

Submitted on April 14th, 2008 by Chuck_Johnson

Read all about it here in this New York Times piece.

My guess is that the Democrats just want to help out the trial lobbyists get to shake down the federal government and cripple the war effort under frivolous lawsuits.

Chuck Johnson is a student at Claremont McKenna College. Feel free to contact him.

Gitmo

Submitted on April 14th, 2008 by chief28.ret

Gitmo needs to stay open. For the same reason there are covert ops, special ops, and the absolute need for classified information (meaning you don't need or want to know it), there is a need for places like Gitmo. Fact is, if it isn't Gitmo, it will be somewhere else...we just won't know where until some nosy reporter leaks it.

Leave it alone and sleep better tonight because our brave Marines (Semper Fi) are standing watch keeping us safe from the people in Gitmo. "A few good men" had it right, just had the wrong ending.

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