States fight Obama dump of Gitmo detainees

By Cheryl Chumley

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

Senators and governors in a couple of states are raising objections to a recently released plan to relocate detainees at Guantanamo Bay to America’s prisons, saying the idea is dangerous and should be tossed.

The Pentagon will send a survey team to the military prison in Charleston, South Carolina by month’s end. A similar assessment was conducted last Friday at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Other civilian sites also reportedly are under consideration for detainees, which include suspected terrorists.

“Only those locations that can hold detainees at a maximum security level will be considered,” a Defense Department spokesman told Voice of America.

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But Kansas state Sen. Steve Fitzgerald said not so fast – the relocation is nothing more than an open-door invitation for terrorists to launch attacks in the area, the Associated Press reported. And U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran agreed the idea wasn’t prime, saying the public access points at Sherman Airfield in Leavenworth would have to be closed if the plan went through, and that would create massive traffic jams for nearby rail and road transit systems.

Meanwhile, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback outright called the notion wrong, saying sending “these terrorists, who hate America, to the Heartland” would prove disastrous for the safety and security of U.S. citizens, AP said.

Sen. Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican, has threatened to hold up the nomination of the next Army secretary if the administration goes ahead with plans to move the detainees to Leavenworth, the Roll Call newspaper reported.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was blunter, saying outright the Naval Consolidated Brig in her state wasn’t open for terrorists.

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“We are not going to allow South Carolina to be a magnet for terrorists,” said Haley, in response to the Pentagon strategy.

She also vowed to “do whatever it takes” to block the Obama administration on the move. The Republican governor said moving the detainees to any state would violate a law passed by Congress, but she doesn’t trust that will prevent their transfer to South Carolina. President Obama has “skirted the law” before, she said.

“They are wasting their time,” Haley added. “We are absolutely drawing a line.”

Both the House and Senate versions of the 2016 federal defense policy bill maintain prohibitions on transferring detainees to U.S. facilities. The Senate legislation, however, allows the restrictions to be lifted if the White House submits a plan to close the facility and it’s approved by Congress. House and Senate negotiators are working to reconcile the two bills, reports the Associated Press.

Obama could also issue an executive order to move the detainees.

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., said he would fight bringing detainees to anywhere in the nation — even if it means withholding federal money.

“If you jeopardize American security, all bets are off the table,” Scott said.

Haley’s predecessor, Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., wrote a letter to the Defense Department opposing the possibility. In it, he said he’s concerned about moving detainees from a remote corner of Cuba to a prison near a school, homes and a port.

Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, meanwhile, said the administration hasn’t yet settled on the sites.

“We will be assessing other locations in the coming weeks.”

The closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention center has been a top priority for Obama, who pledged on his first day in office to shut it down.  About 52 of the 116 current detainees have been cleared for release. The remaining 64 have been deemed too dangerous, according to the Associated Press.

“With respect to Guantanamo, I see it exactly the way the president does,” Carter told reporters, calling the prison a “rallying point for jihadi propaganda.”

“It’s expensive for this department and not something that the president wants to leave to his successor,” he added. “I think that is a very, very correct position. I support it entirely.”

Cheryl Chumley

Cheryl K. Chumley is a journalist, columnist, public speaker and author of "The Devil in DC." and "Police State USA: How Orwell's Nightmare is Becoming our Reality." She is also a journalism fellow with The Phillips Foundation in Washington, D.C., where she spent a year researching and writing about private property rights. Read more of Cheryl Chumley's articles here.


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