US eyes plan to empty Guantanamo prison: report “establish legal procedures for such

[crayers]

US eyes plan to empty Guantanamo prison:

Taken from: Yahoo / AFP news

The US government is developing a "long-range plan" to empty its war-on-terror prison at its naval base in Guantanamo, Cuba, and seeking help on what to do with inmates who won't be tried, The Washington Post reported Friday.

President George W. Bush's administration may ask Congress to "spell out procedures for scores of suspected terrorists whom the government does not plan to bring to trial," the report said, citing unnamed administration officials and others familiar with high-level White House talks on the thorny issue.
Last month the US Supreme Court ruled that inmates could challenge their detention in a civilian court. The US government had said it wanted to bring 60 to 80 Guantanamo detainees before military commissions, though only about 20 have so far been charged.

The commissions are highly controversial, notably because they accept indirect witness statements as evidence, as well as information obtained under duress.

One scenario under consideration would see "about 80 detainees ... remain at the facility in Cuba to be tried by military commissions, and about 65 others would be turned over to their native countries."

But "the focus of the intensifying debate is what to do with about 120 remaining prisoners, who are viewed by the administration as too dangerous to release but who are unlikely to be brought before military commissions because of a lack of evidence.

"Officials are considering whether to propose legislation in coming days that would establish legal procedures for such prisoners, who could be transferred to military or civilian prisons on the US mainland," the report quoted unnamed sources as saying.

Bush has said for more than two years that he would like to close the widely condemned prison camp at the Caribbean naval base, which itself lies on the coast of Cuba against the will of the communist government in Havana.
US authorities were cited in the report as saying no decision has been made on a potential close of the prison camp and that "the administration's debate is focused on what steps would be necessary for such a closure, including moving scores of terrorism suspects to other US detention facilities."

Taken from: Yahoo / AFP news

[Dehietyi]

I've heard so much in recent months about GITMO. Giving these people similar rights as American citizens to a fair trial and lawyers and such. All at the tax payers expense of course. In the same breath we are already paying for them to be held there so in a way we are already dealing with the expense. The biggest issue I see in all of this is that this is a new situation for the U.S. in that times past these people would become prisoners of war and would be scheduled for release when the war ended. With terrorists not so much. These people work independently of any governing body or law; therefore there is no guarantee that if/when this war ends that these people are going to have the mindset of laying down arms. This creates this new issue that this nation has to deal with. The sad truth is that it is truly an international issue and should be handled with like-minded nations as such but it seems most other countries, even those with terrorist problems are willing to turn the other cheek in hopes that not talking about it and not dealing with it will make the problem go away. Regardless of the situation we are in a mess and I don't envy the job of our next president whomever that may be. Just my

[Von Nanega]

The solution will be, wait for it, wait for it,,,, DUMP EM' IN THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS FACILITIES!!!!!!!

[Dehietyi]

Originally Posted by Von Nanega

The solution will be, wait for it, wait for it,,,, DUMP EM' IN THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS FACILITIES!!!!!!!

My magic 8ball agrees.

[gray2]

what about the ones that will eventually be released, think they will be so pissed off that they will be a bigger problem? Do you think they would bring them from Guantanamo and house them in our bop. I hope not with all the problems that the FED Officers are having to deal with. like under staffing. its not like those guy and gals dont already have enough sh-- deal with.

[strak]

Why doesn't the president grow a set and do what is right (and legal) ? - CLASSIFY THE A$$HOLES AS P.O.W'S AND START RUNNING P.O.W. CAMPS LIKE WE WERE AT WAR !!!!!!!!!

We did it in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Civil War, The Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War (or Conflict for you liberals), Vietnam, and the first Persian Gulf War. For God sakes, WE'RE AT WAR !!!!!! The P.O.W.'s can get their visits from the Red Cross, and they can rot in a P.O.W. Camp until the war is over. No charges, no trials, no lawyers, no judges. Hell, I'd even follow the rules of the Geneva Convention - more than I can say about the other side who like to blow themselves up and take as many innocent people with them. I've got their 72 virgins right here...

.

[Von Nanega]

Right On! My agreement is total!

[Dehietyi]

@strak I'm not denying what you're saying nor am I disagreeing with your logic. However every war you mentioned was fought over something tangible and by actual countries with a system of government with an embodying set of rules and regulations. Terrorism by its basic definition is a Non Sequitur. I think our governments thinking is if we cut off its head then the body will die. Unfortunately this is not the case. These terrorist cells are designed to act alone without any aid from outside sources. Even if we find and kill Bin Laden will that stop Al Qaeda? I don't believe so. In fact if that happens I see him becoming the next martyr.
Al Qaeda is a blanket term used to describe a large unstructured organization of people with differing political agendas but the same common goal. How do you fight an enemy that has no ties to any one regime, no country to call its own, no system of government and is spread not only throughout different countries but different continents? These people are waging a war based off of beliefs and religion not off of something tangible like oil, land boundaries or money.
A majority of us on this site have children and we know how impressionable they can be and these people are raising their young to hate everything we stand for. I've seen pictures of 4 year olds carrying AK-47's. If these people are willing to kill themselves just to kill non-combatants, their goal to cause collateral damage, and to put their own children in harms way; how can we fight that? The closest we have ever come to fighting a similar war is probably Vietnam. There they used guerilla tactics as well; placing bombs on children and women to cause collateral damage. This may sound heartless and don't think that I think less of our military when I say this but in Vietnam they were fighting our armed forces. These people knew their life was on the line and they were trained to do their job. They at least had no illusions of safety; unlike the people in the twin towers. I honestly feel that there is no way that we can win this war on terror; just as I feel we cannot win the war on drugs. As long as there are people in this country willing to use drugs then there will be people willing to sell them. As long as there are people in this world who think that dying while killing a bunch of innocent people in the name of Allah will gain everlasting paradise and 72 virgins then there will be terrorism. I wish I had a solution to this problem, I really do, but honestly I don't think our government has one either. We are in a $hit storm of a mess and the ones I feel the worst for is our military because I have a feeling that at the end of this they will be called back home after watching their friends and colleagues die for a war that our government will eventually realize can't be won.

[pala]

I agree with alot of what you say Dehietyi. I think the biggest mistake the Bush administration has made with this war in Iraq is setting up the Gitmo camp. These people should have remained in Iraq, and held under the new Iraqi regime and laws.

People think when we finally took Saddam into custody that we should have put him to trial in the US for his crimes, but you see the government was at least intelligent enough to know the US legal system is so messed up that he would end up spending the rest of his life in a mental instituion instead of hanging from the rope like he belonged.

Now we've gotten our selves in the same mess with the Gitmo inmates that we tried to avoid with Saddam. These guys will tie our court systems up for years with appeals and civil actions, wasting more and more of our money, long after the troops have been pulled from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Yet another brilliant move by the Bush administration that we'll be paying for, for years to come.

[grunt11b]

That plan is a liberals dream, but they are so ignorant they fail to realize that the supreme courts ruling does not out way the military's jurisdiction in it all. The supreme court does not out rank the United States military and has no say in the military's dealings with enemy combatants. Chalk another win up for the good guys!!