Today is November 13th, 2009, and Gitmo is still open, and occupied by “detainees’”. During the Presidential campaign, then Senator Obama promised that he would close Gitmo, but as far as I know, he never promised “when” he would close it, so he has until January of 2013, before we can say that he broke his promise. Oh well, politicians break promises all the time, and President Obama is no exception to that rule.
Anyone who knew the ramifications of closing Gitmo, knew that it was going to be a tough promise to keep. Assuming that Obama knew, which is certain, he had to know that
he would have to do some legal, and political, magic in order to keep his promise. So far,
he hasn’t come up with any solution, good, or bad.
(You would think that a Nobel Peace Prize winner would know how to close a prison that is clearly under his control, and command.)
According to statistics from about May, 2009, the Administration estimated that, of 240 prisoners, there are only 60-80 prisoners that could be prosecuted, i.e., there is adequate credible evidence that would hold-up in court, leaving a difference of up to 180 prisoners who cannot be tried for lack of evidence. The 180 detainees are what makes it difficult to close Gitmo, because, according to reports, these detainees are the worst of the worst, and are clearly a danger to the United States, yet by our rules, we have no way to give them a trial, and no legal basis to keep them incarcerated.
I haven’t heard one person, on either side of the political aisle, suggest that they be released, nor have I heard one person say that they should be permanently incarcerated, without a trial.
(And, for all those who have so vehemently expressed their outrage at the idea of torturing detainee’s, I haven’t seen any protests, or articles, or blogs, fighting for their release.)
I heard President Obama say in a speech, in regard to Gitmo, “We are not going to release anyone if it would endanger our national security.” That fact is, if we, as a country, are to live-up to the principles that have been repeatedly enunciated by the President, then those who are put on trial, and exonerated, will be released, and those who cannot be put on trial, must also be released. This is not a national security issue that needs to be solved by the President; the President does not get to decide; our laws decide. He doesn’t have the constitutional power to keep the Gitmo detainee’s incarcerated, indefinitely.
I’ve given this alot of thought, and I have a solution in mind that is fairly obvious, and fairly simple.
For those detainee’s whom we cannot put on trial, let’s just release them all, in small groups, over a few months period. We’ll load them on a transport plane, and take them all to Afghanistan. Then we’ll turn them over to Afghani troops, who will load them on trucks and take them to a remote area , give them some food, and water, and free them. This should be supervised by the Red Cross, or the United Nations, to ensure that the detainees are delivered in good condition.
If any of them somehow choose to link-up with the Taliban, or Al Qaeda, and attack our soldiers, and are killed, so bet it, problem solved.
If they are captured while attacking our troops, since President Obama now requires our soldiers to Mirandize captured troops, we will be on firm ground when it comes to putting them on trial. Problem solved.
Of course, we would need to protect our soldiers, so, we would need to concentrate more troops in those areas where the detainees are released.
It is always the simplest solutions that are overlooked.
And that is just my opinion.
Spencer Holly
www.angrycalifornian.com
0068
