W.W.A.A.D. #2 Keep Gitmo Open

Military-civilian terror prison eyed

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is looking at creating a courtroom-within-a-prison complex in the U.S. to house suspected terrorists, combining military and civilian detention facilities at a single maximum-security prison.

Several senior U.S. officials said the administration is eyeing a soon-to-be-shuttered state maximum security prison in Michigan and the 134-year-old military penitentiary at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., as possible locations for a heavily guarded site to hold the 229 suspected al-Qaida, Taliban and foreign fighters now jailed at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba.

The officials outlined the plans — the latest effort to comply with President Barack Obama's order to close the prison camp by Jan. 22, 2010, and satisfy congressional and public fears about incarcerating terror suspects on American soil — on condition of anonymity because the options are under review.

White House spokesman Ben LaBolt said Friday that no decisions have been made about the proposal. But the White House considers the courtroom-prison complex as the best among a series of bad options, an administration official said.

Getting the Standish prison ready for the detainees would be costly. One
official estimated it would cost over $100 million for security and other
building upgrades.

Several Michigan lawmakers, including Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin and Rep. Bart Stupak, both Democrats, have said they would be open to moving detainees to Michigan as long as there is broad local support.

Yeah right! Like that is going to happen! There probably isn't a place in the country where people would give "broad support' for this monstrous calamity.

Administration officials said the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth is under consideration because it is already a hardened high-security facility that could be further protected by the surrounding military base.

It's not clear what would happen to the military's inmates already being held there. Nearly half are members of the U.S. armed forces, and by law, cannot be housed with foreign prisoners.

Kansas' GOP-dominated congressional delegation is dead set against moving Guantanamo detainees to Leavenworth. Residents told Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., at a town hall meeting in May that 95 percent of the local community opposes it. Sen. Sam Brownback and Rep. Lynn Jenkins planned a news conference in Leavenworth on Monday to "discuss opposition to any efforts to move detainees to Fort Leavenworth."

I guess they won't be very welcomed in THIS RED State! Why should the good people of Kansas feel in any way obligated to help NObama keep his stupid promise anyway?

Administration officials say they are determined to keep to his promise of closing Guantanamo in January as a worldwide example of America's commitment to humane and just treatment of the detainees.

Glenn Sulmasy, an international law professor at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., said the prison-court complex will "be difficult, but it's logical."

"This is all based on Closing Gitmo by 2010, which seems to be a priority, and if we are going to do it, we have to step up to the plate and find solutions to the conundrum we're facing," said Sulmasy, who agrees with the administration's efforts. "And this seems to be the most pragmatic way ahead."

It's ALL about the promise. Hey NObama, it's OK to break promises that NEVER should have been made in the first place!!

You may follow this link to get the entire story. I just posted the most pertinent paragraphs.

Well, for those that know me, you must be aware that I would not follow this track to deal with a very sticky problem. I won't bore you with all of NObama's details of the plan, but I WILL tell you W.W.A.A.D.

To begin with, I never would have made such an ill-conceived promise, but since that promise was made, here's the proper way to handle it. WITHOUT the help of a huge staff of speech writers and advisors, I would prepare an address to the American people explaining WHY I must break my promise to close Gitmo. I would NOT worry about addressing any other audience. The rest of the world will hear this speech, the media will take care of that! True leadership dictates being able to admit mistakes and take corrective action. This could be his chance to actually INCREASE his standings in the polls. Most conservatives and independents would be able to support him on at least this one issue. Here's the speech:

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I stand before you tonight with news that some of you will be delighted to hear, while others will be disenheartened. As you know, during the campaign and since then as recently as last month in Cairo, I have been adamant about closing down the facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. After much study, soul-searching, and discussions with everyone involved, I have concluded that the best scenario is to maintain what we have. We are looking into more transpanency as to their treatment so as to assure the world that they are in fact getting the best possible treatment. That is the underlying question in the minds of many, and that can be addressed at Guantanamo as well or better than anywhere else. We are still diligently trying to find homes to resettle many of the detainees, but are finding this a very slow process. Many of the most hardened terrorists we are holding may never be released, so we have to have a long-term answer, and I think we have it already."

That took me about 10 minutes to write. If I really had to do it, I would spend much more time and do a much better job, but, I think you get the idea. NObama, keep it short and sweet, 15 minutes at the most. Tell America you are just human. Tell them you are NOT the messiah, even though I know you think you are. Let people know that you are man enough to admit when you screw up!