Today, the Senate decided to disallow the releasing of prisoners Guantanamo. The decision was based on the desire for a firm plan on what to do with the detainees once they shut down the prison. It is a completely understandable stance that the Senate Democrats are taking. There needs to be a 100% clear plan on what to do with these potentially dangerous individuals. Obama has also stated that he plans on presenting detainee policy this Thursday.
Also, I read that the Senate won't be able to remove the detainees until Sep. 30th. It was stated that government doesn't have any spare money to transport them. So, Sep. 30th is when they will be removed, simply because the government needs to get some money to spend on it.
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Today while driving i heard on the radio that Obama was coming up with new plans for the bay and was concerned with terrorists/prisoners terrorizing people living near the prison.
How scary to know that all these horrible people will be ' let loose' ( not really, but in a way ) and just roaming around...all that hard work to find them, capture them for nothing! ah!!
I agree that not allowing Guantanamo detainees to be released until a clear plan has been made is a justified decision by the Senate. It's dangerous to let potential terrorists and criminals to just roam free without any way of keeping them in check. That would just lead to more crime and worry and basically restart the cycle of having to recapture them if they are found committing any more crimes. Also, the money issue is extremely important, especially when our government's budget is so tight.
I read in an Associated Press article that an al-Qaida suspect is going to be brought to New York for trial and that this is a big step in Obama's plan to shut down Guantanamo by early next year. Not sure if that means Obama is going to put all detainees on trial before shutting down the facility, but that's highly unlikely considering the money and time that would take. Maybe he's only putting the highly suspect detainees on trial? I guess we'll have to wait til Thursday to find out.
Although I'm not entirely sure why Obama wants to close Gitmo, I personally think the US should put all of the detainees on trial, even knowing the time and money involved. I feel it is something that should have been done a long time ago. It may cost the government money to put these people on trial, but it would save us the time and money of having to recapture them and repair the damage they cause if they were to go back to committing crimes.
Oliver, Obama should close Gitmo because of the horrible purpose that it serves. There have been many accounts of waterboarding there. It is disturbing what goes on down there. I agree with you about the trials. What must be done is for the U.S. to bring them back to our own soil, provide fair trials that will conclude whether there is enough evidence to convict them of a crime. No such trial has been provided.
In a New York times article i was reading it said that Obama is having a difficult time grappling with the Republican and Democratic opinions on closing Guantanamo. Republicans want assurances that prisoners of Guantanamo will not end up in American, even in maximum security prisons. So, if the prisoners do not end up in America they will either be set free or end up in another prison outside of the US where i can see Guantanamo like activities happening all over again. The article says that "as many as 80 of the detainees will be prosecuted, it remains unclear what will happen to those who are convicted and sentenced to prison." Apparently, the government does not even know where to send the prisoners who are convicted to. Foreign countries and the US don't want to have them, so where else can they go? I think this question will postpone the closing of Guantanamo for awhile.
Although, Britain and France have each accepted a former detainee, 50 to 100 of the total 240 prisoners at Guantanamo have been listed as too dangerous to be released. That is a lot of prisoners to find "places" for...especially when no one wants them.
Yeah, I heard that too. The republicans are being pretty ridiculous about the whole situtation. Honestly, what difference does it make if the detainees are in Guantanamo or a high security prison in the U.S. There is a reason for why it is a high security prison!
I agree with Zach that some of the things done at Gitmo are horrible and I agree that they should be put on trial if they have not been already. The US has a good reputation of being a fair country with the justice system and Gitmo says the opposite. It says that the US does not give everyone a fair trial and some people get tortured. That is not our nature and a trial would be ideal even if it costs some money because we do not want guilty people running the streets like Selina said.
First of all, it would be very irresponsible to release dangerous criminals into the streets and those individuals have to be tried in a court and transferred to another prison. However, it is impossible to know if ALL of these people are "terrorists" since these people have been imprisoned without any charges. The Democrats need to stop flip flopping and close down Guantanamo Bay once and for all. By the way, I am pretty sure the government can afford to pay the airfare of these people if it can afford to squander billions of dollars on bailing out failed companies.
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