By Sen. James Inhofe,The Washington Times
Guantanamo Bay is the best home for terrorists
Stay the course on closing the facilities. Less than 24 hours after the Senate overwhelmingly rejected the president’s request for funds to shut down Gitmo –mainly because the administration had no plan –Mr. Obama made clear he intends to continue down his chosen path.
Never mind that FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III said in a Senate hearing last Wednesday that moving detainees to American prisons would bring risks,including “the potential for individuals undertaking attacks in the United States,”or that the media report that an unreleased Pentagon report shows 1 in 7 of the 534 detainees released from Gitmo have returned to terrorism or militant activity,resulting in a nearly 14 percent recidivism rate.
The fact is that Mr. Obama never had a plan for what to do with these detainees –where they would be held,the security required,the cost of moving and housing the detainees at other facilities,the legal system under which they would be held and tried,and the impact on our national security. The president made a “hasty”decision,as White House press secretary Robert Gibbs has made clear,to close this facility without any regard to the national-security implications.