Spring Break
Serious solutions for detainment of Gitmo prisoners
Kris Noneman
Issue date: 5/22/09 Section: Forum
In the most shocking move made by the Democrat-dominated Senate since the majority swung to the left side of the aisle in 2006, the Democrats have decided to halt action by their golden child, President Barack Obama.
According to a recent New York Times article, the $80 million requested by the president to shut down the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay has been denied by Senate Democrats until Obama can offer them some sort of plan defining how to shut the prison down and what to do with the prisoners.
I think President Obama has jumped the gun on this one, but throughout the history of the United States - especially recent history - it has been the habit of the executive office to act first and think later, and perhaps this administration has attempted to follow suit.
This situation seems delicate, and there will be little action by Obama without trouble from Congress. All this seems somewhat ironic, considering the Democratic Party controls almost every branch of government; I guess it is within the Democrats' ability to control themselves for a change.
It has long been a promise of the president to shut down the detention facility at Guantanamo, much against the desire of the Republican minority. On Tuesday, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky praised the majority for not allowing the bill to pass, claiming dangerous terrorists do not belong on American soil and that "Guantanamo is the perfect place" for them. I can't help but wonder if the Cubans would agree with him.
There is no doubt in my mind that we are in need of a secure facility to keep these so-called terrorist threats from escaping and giving them the opportunity to strike United States again. Whether or not that secure facility should be Guantanamo is the question at hand.
Our military branches occupy space all around the world: in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific Islands, and of course, Cuba, which was granted as a continual lease to the United States in the 1903 Cuban-American Treaty. For the slower readers, that means we've been there for 106 years.
According to a recent New York Times article, the $80 million requested by the president to shut down the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay has been denied by Senate Democrats until Obama can offer them some sort of plan defining how to shut the prison down and what to do with the prisoners.
I think President Obama has jumped the gun on this one, but throughout the history of the United States - especially recent history - it has been the habit of the executive office to act first and think later, and perhaps this administration has attempted to follow suit.
This situation seems delicate, and there will be little action by Obama without trouble from Congress. All this seems somewhat ironic, considering the Democratic Party controls almost every branch of government; I guess it is within the Democrats' ability to control themselves for a change.
It has long been a promise of the president to shut down the detention facility at Guantanamo, much against the desire of the Republican minority. On Tuesday, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky praised the majority for not allowing the bill to pass, claiming dangerous terrorists do not belong on American soil and that "Guantanamo is the perfect place" for them. I can't help but wonder if the Cubans would agree with him.
There is no doubt in my mind that we are in need of a secure facility to keep these so-called terrorist threats from escaping and giving them the opportunity to strike United States again. Whether or not that secure facility should be Guantanamo is the question at hand.
Our military branches occupy space all around the world: in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific Islands, and of course, Cuba, which was granted as a continual lease to the United States in the 1903 Cuban-American Treaty. For the slower readers, that means we've been there for 106 years.
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