Senators: We Need Gitmo Open: Hope to Force GITMO Prison to Remain Open

If a bipartisan group of senators gets their way, the U.S. prison facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (Gitmo) will remain open indefinitely, this in the face of recent comments from Attorney General Eric Holder that he remains committed to closing it, a bipartisan goal that has since eluded the administration. Lawmakers told reporters Wednesday that the treasure trove of intelligence material found at Usama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan makes it all the more urgent that it be made clear in U.S. law where captured unprivileged enemy belligerents are to be taken.

Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-SC, Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and Kelly Ayotte, R-NH, introduced legislation Wednesday that states that the naval station "shall be a location for the detention of individuals in the custody or under the control of the Department of Defense who have engaged in, or supported, hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners on behalf of al Qaeda, the Taliban, or an affiliated group." "There is no pathway forward when it comes to closing Guantanomo in the foreseeable future. It's not going to happen," said Graham, a military lawyer who has long maintained that the prison should be closed, though he has recently changed his view saying that no alternative detention facility has emerged.

Lieberman said, "The bottom line is, Guantanamo is still open and will remain open as far as we can see forward, and we need it to remain open. Once we acknowledge that reality in law...we can turn out attention to taking action that is focused on another goal which is using the prison as best we can to keep our country safe."

Concerns among the bipartisan group of lawmakers gathered Wednesday, all members of the Armed Services Committee, grew after a number of Administration officials, including Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen, recently indicated that there was no good answer to the question of where a captured high-value terrorist would be taken. Graham said it could result in a loss of intelligence if prisoners have to be transferred to another country for detention and interrogation.

Source: politics.blogs.foxnews.com...

It's a dam good thing G.W> Bush was POTUS before Obama got in there. Man. Between Holder & Obama AND McCaink, I don't know who the biggest loser is?

I love it when the Dems can't admit they were/are wrong but yet have to do what the Republican already established.

Maybe I will vote for Obama in 2012. He will have vidiciated Bush's War Policies 100% given a little more time.

Anyway, nice to see some common sense being used at all ends of the political spectrum (short of the White House that is).

I hope you were being sarcastic.

Until American citizens can no longer be taken there This place would need to be shut down.
I almost have a problem with non citizens going there however there may come a day where this would have garnered info that helps stop something actually terrible not this coordinated spectacle.

In America we have rights, one of those is due process of law in trial. This prevents those rights from being recognized and I cannot stand for that. the reason the framers outlined these rights.[God given] cannot be taken away and even if they were amended into the original they stand for who we are as a nation. This should be absolutely unacceptable by anyone who expects to come close to another century of freedom in this nation.

The chippers have been chipping away at what you call freedom relentlessly, incessantly, for the last 200 years, they do not even bother to hide anymore and will take more and more exponentially.

they have already taken your right to travel freely, depending on how you view Pub-trans and drivers licenses. Freedom of speech, (when what you have to say is in conflict with what the higher ups want done) [see g20 conferences] so in a way you still have freedom of speech so long as you are talking about stuff that doesnt matter and has no risk of ever seeing the public eye.

Freedom is like a rock and is strong by definition but erosion begins with a single drop of water.

And you promote it?

reply to post by anon72


in a perfect world, Gitmo would be filled with Senators and the rest of the power-hungry scoundrels that have sold out America and led us down the path to debt beyond our ability to repay.

reply to post by LargeFries


Now that I can agree with.

Don't worry, their days of misery are coming soon enough.

reply to post by anon72

It's a dam good thing G.W> Bush was POTUS before Obama got in there. Man. Between Holder & Obama AND McCaink, I don't know who the biggest loser is?

Totally agree. As for the capture and killing of Bin Laden, I say "Thank you, President Bush!" The best thing Obama has done is to follow the instructions left to him when Bush left office.There's no way he could have done this on his own, or with the help of his 'czars' and idiot attorney general.

I love it when the Dems can't admit they were/are wrong but yet have to do what the Republican already established.

The Dems are not capable of formulating strategy. Their answers are a) read the terrorists their Miranda rights, and b) bring them to a nice cozy US prison, lawyer them up, and try them in front of a bleeding heart judge.

Then they withdraw before the job is done.

So outwardly they decry the strategy created by the Rep's. Inwardly, they are thanking their lucky stars that Bush had the cojones to give our troops and intel orgs the tools they needed to succeed.

Maybe I will vote for Obama in 2012. He will have vidiciated Bush's War Policies 100% given a little more time.

No! I know you're joking, but don't even joke about that!

reply to post by mishigas


darn it. that's apparent? lol

Okay, no more cruel jokes like that....

Originally posted by mishigas

Totally agree. As for the capture and killing of Bin Laden, I say "Thank you, President Bush!" The best thing Obama has done is to follow the instructions left to him when Bush left office.There's no way he could have done this on his own, or with the help of his 'czars' and idiot attorney general.

The Partisan is strong in this one.

Funny how Bush isn't to blame for any of the problems the Obama Administration faces, but he gets all the credit for Osama being killed. Fascinating.

Originally posted by incrediblelousminds

Originally posted by mishigas

Totally agree. As for the capture and killing of Bin Laden, I say "Thank you, President Bush!" The best thing Obama has done is to follow the instructions left to him when Bush left office.There's no way he could have done this on his own, or with the help of his 'czars' and idiot attorney general.

The Partisan is strong in this one.

Funny how Bush isn't to blame for any of the problems the Obama Administration faces, but he gets all the credit for Osama being killed. Fascinating.

edit on 12-5-2011 by incrediblelousminds because: Osama not Obama

How about....Funny how Bush gets all the blame for any problems the Obama Administration faces, but gets no credit for Osama being killed. ???

Originally posted by Carseller4


How about....Funny how Bush gets all the blame for any problems the Obama Administration faces, but gets no credit for Osama being killed. ???

edit on 12-5-2011 by Carseller4 because: 5 second edit rule

Sure. Bush basically killed bin Laden with his bare hands. He probably did it in like 03, but just gave it to Obama as a gift. NOW can we blame Bush for the Iraq and Afghan wars in the first place? Or are those Clinton and Carter's fault? Maybe FDR?

pretty sure obama didnt kill bin laden with his own two hands.

the fact of the matter remians had it not been for bush

afghanistan,gitmo and the military build up and increase of special operations and national intelligence agenices beefed up.

obama would have never gotten him.

and the fact remains obama campaigned agianst everything that led to bin ladens death.

the democratic strategy is always blame other people and take credit from other people.

its always been that way.

the credit goes to the seals and the intel and only them an idiot would have made that call oops one did.

see its was so easy a caveman could do it.