Hold the Line on Guantanamo

You've got to wonder what's really going on when Obama seems to cave into the opposition without too much of a fight. One doesn't, for example, see him saying, "Well, okay, health care reform is a bust for this year. The public just won't have it! We'll revisit this issue after we handle the economy." Nope. Not going to happen.

So The Washington Post story that Obama is caving on the New York trials for KSM and friends is a red flag. What's he really up to?

The Post gives us a clue:

If Obama accepts the likely recommendation of his advisers, the White House may be able to secure from Congress the funding and legal authority it needs to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and replace it with a facility within the United States. The administration has failed to meet a self-imposed one-year deadline to close Guantanamo.

Ah! So he'll agree to try KSM and friends in the military tribunal system IF he can bring the rest of the terrorists to the United States.

And he's got an ally:

Top Obama advisers have been negotiating with. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) -- a vocal critic of trying the Sept. 11 suspects in civilian court -- in pursuit of a deal that would secure his help in closing Guantanamo. Graham has sought the creation a legal framework that would spell out how the government would detain and try future captives, but an administration official warned that a "grand bargain" is not likely in the immediate future. The official, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the talks with Graham have been mostly about "limited issues" involving the Mohammed trial and the future of Guantanamo.

What's Graham going to get out of this?

Andy McCarthy is on to this charade:

The real agenda here is to close Gitmo. That’s the ball to keep your eye on. The Post is trying to soften the opposition to shuttering the detention camp by portraying beleaguered, reasonable Obama as making a great compromise that will exasperate the Left. The idea is to strengthen Sen. Lindsey Graham’s hand in seeking reciprocal compromise from our side.

This, however, is a matter of national security, not horse-trading over a highway bill. You don’t agree to do a stupid thing that endangers the country just because your opposition has magnanimously come off its insistence that you do two stupid things that endanger the country.

If a deal to grant military commissions in exchange for closing Gitmo happens, it is a major win for the Obama Left and an enormous loss for public safety.

Michelle Malkin suggests we continue to call them out. This isn't an issue that merits compromise.

Ed Morrissey sees this issue as having an impact on the health care debate as well:

This may have some impact on the health-care debate as well. There have been suggestions that Obama would sacrifice his progressives and hoodwink the House into passing the Senate bill without seriously attempting to get the fixes House Democrats want made through reconciliation. After this retreat, Obama won’t dare cross the progressives on ObamaCare now — but they may be angry enough to demand a do-over to restore the public option. Just when Obama needed the Left to sit quietly so he could pass something on health care, he will enrage them on a key cause.

In either case, we don't want this lame health care boondoggle and we sure don't want Gitmo graduates on American soil. (And if this health care bill passes, you can bet the Gitmo guys will be getting better health care than the rest of us.)

Stay vigilant. Don't let this administration compromise on national security. As McCarthy said, there's just no reason to do it. Congress wasn't going to approve the funding to close Gitmo or renovate Thomson prison. Nobody in Congress wants THAT vote on their record heading into the midterms.

Hold the line.

(More at Memeorandum)

The Good News and the Bad News

Argh! The good news is that the administration has finally gotten on the same page and conceded that we don't need to send Gitmo Yemenis back to their home country just now because of the danger of them returning to jihad.

The bad news is they will likely be coming to Thomson, Illinois!

Excuse me while I bang my head against the wall at the ignorance of an administration that continues to treat terrorists like common criminals and put national security on the back burner, ignoring the lessons of the past.

Via Fox News:

The U.S. will not transfer any detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Yemen right now, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday.

Ninety detainees in Gitmo are from Yemen, which is combating a resurgent Al Qaeda. A delayed return could mean they will end up in a federal prison in Thomson, Illinois, Gibbs said.

How 'bout this Skippy? Leave Gitmo open to do the job it was designed to do and has been doing quite well for a number of years now? What guarantees do you have that al-Qaeda isn't going to use Thomson as a "recruiting tool" as you say Gitmo has been?

Speaking of TOOLS....

Via Memeorandum

We're Closing Gitmo to Save the Taxpayer Money!

Team Obama has maxed out mommy's credit card and doesn't have the cash to purchase Thomson Correctional Center in Illinois. When approached with the idea of adding $200 million to the military appropriations bill to fund the endeavor, Congress balked.

The New York Times reports:

Still, it is not clear that Congress will be willing to approve money enabling the transfer of Guantánamo detainees to domestic soil — especially as the 2010 midterm election campaign heats up, with the likelihood that Republicans will pick up seats.

Incredible insight there on the part of Congress, no? I suspect they are starting to hear the American people and many of them know when they rubber stamp this Obamacare abomination, they are toast. Out. Now they are worrying about keeping their jobs.

The Times also reports this new rationale for closing Gitmo; the administration says that moving the detainees to Illinois will save the taxpayer money. No, really:

The White House has argued that closing Guantánamo would enhance national security by removing a symbol used by terrorist recruiters. It also said the closing would save taxpayers money because the Defense Department pays $150 million a year to operate the Guantánamo prison on the naval base there, while running the Illinois prison would cost $75 million.

You spend nearly $200 million to acquire a property you don't really need, and that saves money? Got it. And as to the operational costs, I'm supposed to believe it will cost $75 million annually to run Thomson because...they say so? Where will that savings come from? Cutting out those high caloric meals? The nutritionists? No more DirectTV? Cutting costs by not providing prayer rugs, oil, and copies of the Koran? Soccer balls? Maybe that's it.

Honestly, this administration's concept of saving money scares me to death.

I guess holding those civilian trials in New York City are supposed to save us money, too. So much cheaper than a military tribunal held at a facility where the defendant already is incarcerated and for a crime to which he has already confessed. No, I guess spending millions on security measures is also a cost-saving measure.

We're just to stupid to realize it.

I wish Obama would quit trying to help me and save me money.

Related:
"The non-descript faces of the foosball table's characters have been chipped off..."
Attempting to Fathom the Logic of Gitmo North
Gitmo North

210 - 6 = 204

New this morning is that six of the Yemeni detainees at Gitmo will be released to their home country and the Washington Post reports that this is "a transfer that could be a prelude to the release of dozens more detainees to Yemen, according to sources with independent knowledge of the matter."

Nearly one hundred of the remained detainees at Gitmo are Yemenis. The Post reports that the transfer will be "closely monitored" and if it is successful, meaning, I suppose, if they don't return to active jihad against us, that more will follow. Given that this White House can't properly manage security for a State Dinner, I'm not sure how much confidence I have in their ability to monitor six Yemeni terrorists.

In related Gitmo news, Andrew McCarthy has posted two spot on articles this week regarding the Thomson, Illinois transfer.

Yesterday's article makes the point that it's not Gitmo that causes terrorism, despite what the Obama administration would have us believe. Today, he explains how terrorists could, in fact, be released into the United States from Thomson:

Nevertheless, Durbin is being disingenuous — doubly disingenuous, in fact. First, the principal fear is no longer that the Obama administration will try to free the terrorists and relocate them here. It is that the federal courts will order the release of the detainees. And second, the senator’s brave assurance that if “a detainee is found not guilty, he will not be released inside the United States” is a smokescreen. As he well knows, most of the Gitmo terrorists are not going to be found guilty or found not guilty — they’re not going to be tried at all.

Be sure to read them both.

The fact is, this administration cares little for national security and has demonstrated that over and over and over again from their attacks on the CIA to bringing terrorists to American soil. It doesn't matter where these detainees are held! Nobody can be so naive to believe that simply bringing them to a new prison will change how the Islamofascists view Americans. They won't suddenly call a truce on us because we've closed Guantanamo.

They won't even call a truce on us for leaking detainees from Gitmo to various countries around the world. Six here, four there, ten there, one over there.... In fact, many of those will return to war against us. I'm sure they have no bitter feelings, right?

Attempting to Fathom the Logic of Gitmo North

I've spent some time now trying to fathom the logic behind bringing Guantanamo detainees to Illinois. I just can't get there. Thomson Correctional Center is pictured left; "X" marks the spot.

There are myriad reasons why it's a horrible idea which others have already gone into better than I.

Jake Tapper points out that Robert Gibbs is now calling John Boehner "crazy" because Boehner has criticized this decision. Boehner has called the move "preposterous" and said, "They’re going to move these prisoners from Gitmo to Northwest Illinois because of some campaign promise that was made in the dark." He has vowed to vote against any funding for said move.

Now Robert Gibbs is criticizing Boehner's criticism. Yesterday, Gibbs asserts that Thomson will be just as safe as Gitmo and that Boehner has nothing to worry about from a national security perspective.

“If there are concerns for security reasons, I would hope some of those people would address why they think the military can do what they're doing at Guantanamo and can't do it at Thomson,” he said.

Gibbs points out that Boehner should watch al Qaeda recruiting videos where "senior Al Qaida leadership in recruiting videos have used the prison at Guantanamo Bay as a clarion call to bring extremists from around the world to join their effort.”

I'm wondering why this administration doesn't realize that al Qaeda will continue to use Guantanamo as a "clarion call" just as they have Abu Ghraib. Just because you move detainees from one prison to the other does not erase its existence from one's memory.

Additionally, if "the military can do what they're doing at Guantanamo" at Thomson, as Gibbs says, al Qaeda, in return, can do the same thing: they can now use Thomson as a recruiting tool. We'll still be "infidels" who are holding their jihadist terrorists in confinement. It doesn't matter what the name of the prison is.

No, it seems the really scary part is that this administration is so determined to keep this dangerous promise regardless of the cost, the will of the American people, or the dangers to national security.

The administration is overlooking at least one of the reasons Guantanamo has not been attacked or that anyone has escaped: there's no place to go once you break out. You're on a naval base. Surrounded by water. On an island. Everything is self contained there. If a prisoner gets sick, there is a damn fine hospital there where they get better (and faster) medical care than most people anywhere in the world.

At Thomson, one would suppose if a detainee gets sick, he'll be transported to the nearest hospital in Chicago about 40 miles away, thus endangering countless numbers of civilian lives.

These are guys that know how to make garrotes from braiding candy wrappers together. Everything is a weapon. Their only purpose is to kill Americans.

Bleeding-heart liberals say that Republicans are fear-mongering and using scare tactics to fight the closure of Guantanamo. These people are ignoring existing facts and recent history.

But, of course, this argument has been raging ever since Obama signed the order to shutter Gitmo back in January. On January 23, Glenn Greenwald posted column accusing Boehner and everyone else opposed to this decision of "fear-mongering" and went on to list a number of terrorists currently being held in United States prisons. In a lengthy, and oft-updated, post, Greenwald's basic thesis was that we are currently holding terrorists in SuperMax prisons and so adding a few more shouldn't be a problem. Anyone who thinks so is fear-mongering.

To me, it all goes back to the same question. Why? Why do this? From a financial standpoint, it's insane. We've spent millions of dollars to retrofit Gitmo to house these guys, provided an on-site hospital capable of handling almost any imagined medical need, an excellent food service facility which prepares high calorie, ethnically approved meals, customized to each detainees nutritional needs and profile, and on and on. From a "human rights" perspective, they've got a much more cushy set-up at Gitmo than they will get anywhere else.

Thomson will have to be upgraded, renovated, and still won't be the facility that Gitmo is. Or maybe it will. The Baltimore Sun reports that there will also be a "tribunal room" at Thomson where military commissions will be held. It seems the only thing missing will be the soccer fields.

No, the "crazy" ones are Obama, Gibbs, and anyone else that thinks that moving over 100 detainees to American soil is a good idea.

This is not a forgone conclusion just yet. Congressional action must be taken to make this happen. Current law says that detainees cannot be brought to American soil for purposes other than prosecution. Does that mean that Obama is going to prosecute all these terrorists, or will the law have to be changed? There is also the financial issue. Money will have to be appropriated for upgrading, renovation, and new construction at Thomson, not to mention the actual acquisition of the property.

Contact your Senators and Representatives and let them know how you feel.

Update: Michelle Malkin has posted a column on this today.

More at Memeorandum.

Club Gitmo Graduates Four More

And then there were 211. The Washington Post reports that four Club Gitmo graduates have been shipped out today.

One was Saber Lahmar who is a Bosnian resident and was transferred to France. Mr. Lahmar will be given a chance "to rebuild his life" in France.

He was arrested in 2002 in Sarajevo, along with four others, in connection with a plot to blow up the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo. That allegation was later withdrawn but he, along with his compatriots, was then held on suspicion that he planned to travel to Afghanistan to attack U.S. forces. He was associated with a known al Qaeda facilitator who was known to have a direct link with bin Laden.

In April of this year, Thomas Joscelyn wrote of Lahmar,

In my opinion, the court’s ruling with respect to Sabir Mahfouz Lahmar, one of the five the court said should be released, was erroneous and ignored many facts about Lahmar’s past. Lahmar was clearly part of the al Qaeda network in Bosnia in the 1990’s. Lahmar was listed as one of the most wanted criminals in Bosnia at one point and was charged with involvement in various criminal and terrorist acts, including a car bombing in Mostar. He was only freed as part of a general amnesty deal the Bosnian government, which was then incredibly duplicitous in its dealings, cut with “Mujahidin” such as Lahmar.

Two Tunisians, Adel Ben Mabrouk, 39, and Mohamed Ben Riadh Nasri, 43, were transferred to Italy where they will be tried on terrorism charges. Italy had arrest warrants out on them already for various charges.

Another went to Hungary. He is Palestinian but his name has not been released.

So, we're down to 211. The main problem seems to be the Yemini detainees. And on that front, Thomson prison in Illinois is still a possibility. The Hill reports tonight that "Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) will host a closed-door briefing with his state’s congressional delegation on Wednesday about sending Guantanamo detainees to an Illinois prison."

All of this so that the world will like us better for closing Gitmo. How silly. We're going to shut down a perfectly functional, well-run, expensively retrofitted facility because "the world" doesn't like it. Because Thomson Correctional won't be Gitmo. It'll be a prison and the detainees will be worse off than they are in Cuba, but they won't be in Gitmo. Ridiculous.

(Photo Credit: U.S. Army 1st Lt. Sarah Cleveland)

As the Gitmo Saga Continues, All Eyes on Thomson, Illinois

In the ongoing saga of what to do with the Gitmo detainees, since Obama insists the "model prison" at Guantanamo be shuttered, the latest target is the small town of Thomson, Illinois.

Thomson Correctional Center was completed in 2001 at a cost of $145 million, and sits about 150 miles west of Chicago, right on the Illinois border. It is a primarily maximum security prison that has remained largely unoccupied with the exception of the 200 bed minimum security unit. The town of Thomson has mixed feelings about the potential of housing Gitmo prisoners.

The Chicago Tribune went to The Sunrise Restaurant and a local pizza joint and took the pulse of several regulars there to gauge the town's reaction to the news. The general consensus seems to be that people just want the prison to be used and consider it a waste of government money for it to just sit empty. Small businesses and restaurants opened in Thomson in anticipation of the prison operating at full capacity and many of those have already given up the ghost and moved on.

Thomson Village President Jerry Hebeler displays an alarming naivete in speaking about the terrorists soon to be his neighbors when he says, "A murderer is a murderer no matter where he's from. That's the way I look at it." That is, I think, the crux of the misunderstanding about this whole business. You can't treat terrorists like common criminals because they aren't.

In fact, if this photo is of the maximum security cell at Thomson, a great deal of retrofitting will need to be done, because as they discovered at Gitmo, there are at least 15 potential weapons in this picture.

It would seem that many in Thomson are willing to exchange national security for a local economic impact.

Illinois Republicans aren't so enthusiastic about the idea. Representative Mark Kirk, a five-term congressman, says in a letter to the Illinois congressional delegation that "our state and the Chicago metropolitan area will become ground zero for Jihadist terrorist plots, recruitment and radicalization."

Republican Representative Donald Manzullo opposes the move, saying "The issue is: 'Are you going to exchange the promise of jobs for national security?' National security trumps everything."

Today, on Fox News Sunday, Mitch McConnell said, "I can't imagine the people of Illinois would like to have these prisoners incarcerated in their state. There may be some local officials who are going to support it, but I expect it will be a huge issue up in Illinois, probably in the U.S. Senate race up there next year."

There is also the question of legality. Can the prisoners legally be brought to U.S. soil, the very country they vowed to destroy. Currently, federal law prohibits bringing them here simply for detention. These would have to be prisoners that the administration intends to prosecute, unless legislation is changed.

The Thomson site is not a "done deal" as they say. Obama officials are planning to tour the prison this week and are also looking at other sites. Standish Max in Michigan has been mentioned, again, with mixed reactions from the community.

It still seems a bonehead idea to me, to close a "well run professional facility" simply because it has become a "black eye" for America, as Susan Estrich called it today. This administration is too concerned with what the world thinks about is, what with Obama going about bowing to emperors and kings, and apologizing for America from one end of the globe to the other. He cares little to none about what Americans think, or apparently, for national security.

Ignoring the advice of experts such as Michael Mukasey, who railed against the decision to bring Khalid Sheik Mohammed to the United States for trial, the administration continues to march toward the cliff's edge.

Mukasey said, "The plan seems to be to abandon the view that we are at war." Indeed, this administration seems to think sticking their collective heads in the sand is the way to victory. Ignore all expert advice (and the advice of your generals on the ground, for that matter) and full steam ahead.

National security be damned.