What if we never close Guantanamo?

2015-07-26T14:09:17-04:00

It’s becoming increasingly clear that the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, isn’t going to be closed during President Barack Obama's administration -- or beyond, despite the administration's efforts. That raises a deep question about foreign policy and the rule of law: What if Guantanamo never closes, and some of its detainees remain there for the rest of their lives?

The sad truth is that the continued operation of the prison is unlikely to do any more long-term damage to the U.S. reputation abroad -- because the world has already come to the conclusion that the U.S. is no better than anyone else when it comes to dealing with terrorists.

But domestically, the continued operation of the prison will do ongoing harm to the coherence and legitimacy of the U.S. legal system.

Start with some hard political truths.

It's true the U.S. Supreme Court has taken Guantanamo into its jurisdiction, and the worst al-Qaeda detainees are being put on trial. But more than 50 others remain in legal limbo, treated as permanent prisoners of war in a conflict that has no way to end. Their detention calls into question the basic ideas of due process, no matter what legal justification the federal government gives for it.

There’s now a State Department official responsible for finding countries willing to take detainees who’ve been recommended for transfer -- and perhaps before the end of Obama’s term he might be able to find homes for some. But most of the 52 detainees who are cleared for release are Yemenis -- and there’s essentially zero chance Yemen will be secure enough to take them before Obama's term ends in January 2017. They would have to be resettled elsewhere.

Then there’s the question of the 54 detainees who haven’t been charged with crimes but have been classified as too dangerous to release. The only way they can be moved off the island is if Congress agrees to a plan the executive branch is supposed to put forward.

But why would a partisan Republican Congress, in the run-up to a presidential election, give the outgoing Democratic president the victory of fulfilling his campaign promise to close the prison? Excuses won’t be hard to find -- congressional Republicans can just say they aren’t convinced a domestic military detention facility would be safe enough. To his credit, Senator John McCain has tried to negotiate a political compromise. But it seems extremely unlikely he’ll be able to persuade House Republicans to give the Democrats such a gift. And it’s unclear what the Obama administration could realistically give them in return.

The costs of Guantanamo to America’s international reputation have been substantial. The abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq was in a sense more shameful, because of the public outcry and belief that the techniques used were more obviously a form of torture. But the U.S. was able to respond by disclaiming those techniques and prosecuting at least some of the (low-level) offenders. But Guantanamo represents official government policy, and always has. The prison was -- and to an important extent remains -- a symbol of U.S. desire and capacity to create a zone of lawlessness. It matters that it’s outside the U.S. And the fact that the Supreme Court held that the Constitution applies there has done little to mitigate the international perception.

Read more at ...

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/what-happens-if-obama-cant-close-guantanamo-noah-feldman/ar-AAdlZUY

What Happens If Obama Can't Close Guantanamo?: Noah Feldman

(Bloomberg View) -- It’s becoming increasingly clear that the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, isn’t going to be closed during President Barack Obama's...

Response by SGM Steve Wettstein made Jul 26 at 2015 2:15 PM

2015-07-26T14:15:58-04:00

IMHO there is no need to close it. This gives us a place to put terrorists without them being on CONUS soil.

Response by SFC Everett Oliver made Jul 26 at 2015 2:23 PM

2015-07-26T14:23:45-04:00

So what if it never closes, And the hell with any other country who has a problem with it. No way should these scum get the rights of a US citizen in our courts. Military tribunals should have been over by now, and would have been if not for the PC crowd....

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 26 at 2015 3:00 PM

2015-07-26T15:00:58-04:00

Guantanamo will not close because, the prisoners held there are entitled only to limited protections of the Geneva convention as long as they are held there. In 2006 the department of Defense issued a memo stating the detainees would "in the future be entitled to protection under Common Article 3." Article basically says detainees will be treated humanely.

Response by Capt Seid Waddell made Jul 26 at 2015 3:33 PM

2015-07-26T15:33:35-04:00

It should not close until the war against the terrorists is over - a long time from now.

Unfortunately, the POTUS seems determined to turn all of the terrorists there loose and close the place. When this POTUS gets the bit in his teeth he will find a way, Constitutional or not, to get what he wants regardless of what the others two branches of government say or do.

I expect to see it closed before Obama leaves office, and I expect to see the terrorists freed to kill again.

I pray that I am wrong.

Response by CSM Michael J. Uhlig made Jul 26 at 2015 4:17 PM

2015-07-26T16:17:14-04:00

Hell no, don't close it......and keep the cameras out too. Sometimes we just need to do bad things to bad people!

Response by MAJ Matthew Arnold made Jul 26 at 2015 4:17 PM

2015-07-26T16:17:18-04:00

OK, I'm ignorant, but it all sounds like a bunch of political mumbo jumbo. De-politisize it and it's just a US prison, on US soil, filled with terrorist who need to be endlessly interrogated and contained. Bringing them to the mainland US will only bring more terrorists (them and others) to the US.

Response by MSgt Manuel Diaz made Jul 26 at 2015 5:43 PM

2015-07-26T17:43:49-04:00

What if the Cubans kick us out, what do we do with the detainees, do we leave them, turn them over to Israel, give them to immigration, coast guard or boarder patrol so they can get social security and government assistance till they initiate jihad America

Response by SFC Roseanne Pickering made Jul 27 at 2015 5:22 AM

2015-07-27T05:22:26-04:00

If Obama doesn't get his way the first time around, he'll stomp his little feet and veto, veto, veto until he gets his way.

Response by Cpl Jeff N. made Jul 27 at 2015 6:27 AM

2015-07-27T06:27:09-04:00

There is no reason to close it. What we should be doing is working to reduce the cost per inmate there. My understanding is that it is pretty expensive. It serves a useful purpose and it's value (in recruiting) to any terrorist organization is next to nothing. They do not hate us because of Gitmo, they hate us because we are not like them, namely muslim.

Response by MCPO Douglas Pennington made Jul 27 at 2015 7:15 AM

2015-07-27T07:15:43-04:00

Why close it? The Feds need to step up the trials and sentencing of those there and keep the base. There is no real need to close it. With Rossey Roads Puerto Rico closed now for several years it is our only base in the Caribbean. A foot hold there is required.

Response by GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad made Jul 27 at 2015 7:18 AM

2015-07-27T07:18:36-04:00

Thawing U.S.-Cuba relations have 'no impact' on naval base ...

Normalization of relations between the U.S. and Cuba will not immediately impact the American naval base at Guantanamo, officials said this week.

In other words, for now, it's business as usual.

Cuban flags were hoisted Monday at the Cuban embassy and at the State Department in Washington, marking the end of over 50 years of ruptured diplomatic relations going back to 1961, when those relations were abruptly severed.

But at the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay — on the far opposite end of Cuba from where the U.S. embassy in Havana has re-opened for full diplomatic business — it was as if nothing unusual had happened.

“There’s no impact on the base at this point. We’re continuing to execute our mission here,” said Kelly Wirfel, public affairs officer for the base, the U.S. Navy's oldest overseas outpost.

http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/2015/07/24/thawing-us-cuba-relations-have-no-impact-naval-base/30612609/

Response by GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad made Jul 30 at 2015 7:36 AM

2015-07-30T07:36:06-04:00

Inside GTMO’s abandoned Camp X-Ray detention center ...

http://www.militarytimes.com/picture-gallery/military/2015/07/29/inside-gtmos-abandoned-camp-x-ray-detention-center/30858017/

Inside GTMO’s abandoned Camp X-Ray detention center

The entrance to Camp X-Ray, located at U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was the temporary holding facility for detainees captured in the war on terror. It opened in January 2002 with 20 detainees and was shut down in 2003.

Response by PO2 Katie Benson made Jul 31 at 2015 10:21 PM

2015-07-31T22:21:16-04:00

I would miss the banana rats!

Response by GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad made Aug 15 at 2015 2:14 PM

2015-08-15T14:14:53-04:00

Pentagon looks at stateside prisons as alternatives to Gitmo ...

The Defense Department is taking another look at the military prison in Kansas and the Navy Brig in South Carolina as it evaluates potential U.S. facilities to house detainees from the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, part of the Obama administration's controversial push to close the detention center.

Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said a team was surveying the Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth on Friday and will do a similar assessment at the Naval Consolidated Brig in Charleston later this month. Davis said the team will assess the costs associated with construction and other changes that would be needed in order to use the facility to house the detainees as well as conduct military commission trials for those accused of war crimes.

The closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention center has been a top priority for President Barack Obama, who pledged on his first day in office to shut it down. But that effort has faced persistent hurdles, including staunch opposition from Republicans and some Democrats in Congress and ongoing difficulties transferring out the dozens of detainees who have been cleared to leave.

Read more at ...

http://www.navytimes.com/story/military/pentagon/2015/08/14/pentagon-assessing-us-options-guantanamo-detainees/31742949/

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 8 at 2015 9:32 PM

2015-09-08T21:32:55-04:00

Well said Gunney, well said.

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made Oct 17 at 2015 6:17 AM

2015-10-17T06:17:15-04:00

It's a "vacation" deployment. The troops love it, I know I did - despite getting sick and hospitalized in the middle of it. The booze is cheap, outdoor movie theater, a BX, scuba diving, beaches. Oh yeah and then there's that whole running the detention facility that interrupts all the fun. :-)

Response by PO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 19 at 2015 7:53 AM

2015-10-19T07:53:03-04:00

Why should we close it? the "enemies" hate us anyway.

Response by SPC George Rudenko made Oct 27 at 2015 5:37 PM

2015-10-27T17:37:39-04:00

We will always need rendition and a non US place for interrogation.

Response by PO1 Glenn Boucher made Oct 28 at 2015 8:11 PM

2015-10-28T20:11:53-04:00

In my opinion keep it open and never, ever bring those terrorists to the US for any reason what so ever. They are prisoners of war as far as I am concerned, and yes I know I am no one or real importance in the big picture, and they do not deserve to be held in prisons in the US. I really could care less who doesn't like it, if they are so concerned then let them come take these terrorists and deal with them, but oh wait they would probably say, "Okay now be good and behave when we send you back home and remember don't join your old buddies, promise?"

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 4 at 2015 10:56 AM

2015-12-04T10:56:30-05:00

oh well, they are living better here than they would if they were back home