WASHINGTON, Feb. 8, 2007
Democrats Mull Plan To Close Guantanamo
Key House Democrats Suggest Speedy Trial Or Release Of Most Prisoners
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(CBS/AP)
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Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said he hopes to include the provision in legislation this spring that Democrats also intend to use to try to prevent further increases in troop strength in the war in Iraq.
Without public notice, Murtha dispatched Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., to the detention center at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay on a one-day trip late last month to recommend ways for closing it. Both men said the prison has become counterproductive as the United States tries to win converts overseas in the war on terror.
“Without closing it, this just plays into the propaganda of the enemy,” Moran said in an interview.
The prison was opened on Jan 11, 2002, and none of the more than 700 prisoners who have entered the facility — suspected of links to al Qaeda and the Taliban — has ever been tried.
Moran said there currently are 393 detainees at the prison, and added he had told Murtha about 80 of are likely to face trial, including 14 whom he described as high value targets.
The Virginia lawmaker said 87 other detainees can probably be released without trial and should go either to their country of origin, or if that isn't possible, to Afghanistan, where they were captured.
Moran said he had recommended requiring the administration to review the cases of the remaining detainees promptly and decide which of them should be held for trial and which should be released.
The facility at Guantanamo Bay has been the subject of extensive political and legal debate, and drawn protests by human rights activists since it was opened. The European Union has urged closing the facility.
The Pentagon recently released new rules to govern trials at the prison, based on a law passed by Congress last year that permits the administration to go ahead with special military commissioners to hear the cases.
Authorities recently drafted charges against three detainees, and they are expected to be formally filed soon. Once that occurs, regulations require preliminary hearings within 30 days and the start of a jury trial within 120 days at Guantanamo Bay.
Moran estimated that it could take five years for all the trials to take place.
He said the rest of the prison population should be out at least by the end of next year. “That is our intent. We feel this is one of the reasons we've lost so much credibility” in the war on terror, he said.
Murtha is chairman of a House subcommittee with jurisdiction over spending on military matters. Moran is a member of the panel.
© MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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We need it so we can send Cheney and Bush to rot in Gitmo for their WAR CRIMES !!!
Posted by mh4cbs1 at 11:08 PM : Feb 08, 2007
I 2nd that, but hope to get a job there as one of the guards when they're imprisoned there. I have questions I'd like to ask them and will be willing to provide them with water to keep them "refreshed" during the questioning, just as they have done to other prisoners.
We should close the terrorist-run camp in Guantanamo!
Instead of terrorizing people and showing ourselves to the world as being uncivilized, we should bring the kidnapped people before judges and settle their cases pronto.
3. Iraq is an unacceptable drain on our resources, especially money. Until we leave, demand Iraq pay more for their own security with their oil money. There's no way you can tell me Iraq is paying for it's fair share of the occupation.
4. Iraq is a civil war. You cannot win someone else's civil war. On my number 2, part of Iraq "doing it themselves" means solving their own civil war. A deadline will make them work harder at settling this civil war, if it's even possible. If it isn't, then we are wasting our time there no matter what happens.
You know when you righties say stuff like this, it merely makes you look foolish and deperate. You do know that, right? The last argument of someone with no legitimate arguments for his position.
Well, here are a few arguments for my own that aren't just bumper sticker slogans:
1. Being tied up in Iraq gives us fewer options against legitimate threats like Iran and North Korea. Iran and North Korea only became bolder with their nuke programs after we invaded Iraq. They knew they had us tied up. Withdraw into friendly Kurd areas, shift forces to Afghanistan to get rid of the Taliban once and for all and start sending some units home, especially guard units, for rest. Equipment also needs a desperate refresh.
2. Iraq is a huge recruiting point for terrorists and the longer we stay, the longer we look like conquerers. Detail a plan to hand over security to Iraqi forces and make them stick to it. This idea that a deadline will make terrorists lay low until we leave is dumb. If terrorists are laying low now, I'd hate to see what they do once they come out into the open. It's a foolish argument. As long as we stay openended, Iraq will never have motivation to do it themselves.
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I swear, all you liberal dems are the best ally our enemies have. Hope you sleep well at night knowing you are selling out your fellow countrymen.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23384657-details/We%20do%20use%20books%20that%20call%20Jews%20'apes'%20admits%20head%20of%20Islamic%20school/article.do?expand=true#StartComments
but not one coalition member should or will be haji....... get over it.....
The US Code (federal law) prohibits torturing people. Torturing prisoners of war is a war crime under US federal law.
George Bush and those who followed his orders to torture people are war criminals, no different than any other war criminals, including German Nazis.
The gulag in Guantanamo and other secret torture camps are little different than Nazi Germany's detention camps. The primary difference being Nazis used inmates as cheap labor for German corporations.
but the fascist nazi islamic muslims have..... but you knew that already.... right haji????
so i guess you are for trying them right now aren't you haji.......
Terrorism Awareness Project to wake up Americans
http://www.terrorismawareness.org/
http://www.terrorismawareness.org/islamic-mein-kampf
&x=wrt
buy yourself a sense of humor you fascist nazi Islamic muslims%u2026
http://www.henryk-broder.de/tagebuch/karikaturisten.html
All authorities, whether US or those from other countries who cooperated with the US to commit such war crimes must be brought before the bar of justice preferably involving a 3rd party like the World Court to process and perform such trials against those accused of committing such crimes against hummanity.
Like others around the world who are held accountable for such vile crimes, US officials should not be provided amnesty for such crimes simply by virtue of their status as American officials.
- by mh4cbs1 February 9, 2007 2:08 AM EST
- Don't Close Gitmo!!!
- Reply to this comment
See all 14 CommentsWe need it so we can send Cheney and Bush to rot in Gitmo for their WAR CRIMES !!!