Guantanamo headache faces next president

Among the Republican presidential contenders, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has taken the boldest approach, saying in a debate last May, “Some people have said we ought to close Guantanamo. My view is we ought to double Guantanamo.”

Romney didn't explain his rationale for doubling the size of the facility. He seemed to imply that there are a lot more al Qaida operatives who his administration would find and put there.

But the Bush administration has gradually released about 470 of those once held at Guantanamo, sending them to countries ranging from Australia to Tajikistan.

McCain finds himself at odds with most of his Republican contenders on the issue.

“I would announce on the day of my inauguration that we are closing Guantanamo Bay,” said McCain.

He added in a recent interview with PBS talk show host Charlie Rose that “Guantanamo Bay could be the Four Seasons (Hotel) right now” in terms of its amenities.

But the current conditions and treatment of those held there, he argued, are irrelevant because the site “has become a symbol, along with Abu Ghraib, and along with torture and rendition, that has hurt America’s image throughout the world.”

Is it as bad as people say?
His rival, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, argues that the image of Guantanamo does not reflect the reality.

Guantanamo, he said last summer in an interview with CNN, is “more symbolic than it is a substantive issue because people perceive of mistreatment when in fact there are extraordinary means being taken to make sure these detainees are being given really every consideration.”

He added, “Most of our prisoners would love to be in a facility more like Guantanamo and less like the state prisons that people are in in the United States.”

Both Huckabee and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani have raised the specter of Guantanamo prisoners being released and wreaking havoc.

The Defense Department has estimated that of the approximately 470 detainees who have been released or transferred, about 30 have gone to the battlefield in Afghanistan, Iraq, or elsewhere to fight American or NATO forces.

“If we let somebody out and it turns out that they come and fly an airliner into one of our skyscrapers, we're going to be asking how come we didn't stop them," Huckabee said. 

The repatriation problem
Giuliani has raised another practical problem: Some of the detainees’ countries of origin have been unwilling to repatriate them. Feinstein also acknowledged this problem on Tuesday.

With considerable hyperbole, Giuliani said in September, “We can't close Guantanamo because nobody will take the people there. The president is attempting to move those people to other countries, and those countries are intelligent enough to say, ‘We don't want people as dangerous as this in our country.’”

Perhaps previewing an argument he might make in a debate against a Democratic candidate, Giuliani said, “So what are you proposing? That we release them in New York or in Boston or in Los Angeles? So there's a reality to this that the liberal media and some of the Democratic politicians seem to try to avoid.”

Senate Republican Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, too, has raised the alarm about the potential of Guantanamo prisoners coming to the United States.

In July he offered a non-binding sense of the Senate resolution that did not specifically address the possibility of detainees being jailed at Fort Leavenworth, as McCain, Biden, and Dodd have suggested.

It urged that Guantanamo prisoners “should not be released into American society, nor should they be transferred stateside into facilities in American communities and neighborhoods.”

McConnell made a point of criticizing Feinstein’s bill. “Most Kentuckians would not want al-Qaida housed down the street from them,” he said. “I would assume citizens from other states feel the same way.”

But not only did Feinstein vote for the McConnell resolution, so did Clinton and almost every other Democratic senator, including every presidential contender, except Sen. Barack Obama who was absent for the vote.

The final tally was 94 to 3, with only Sens. Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Robert Byrd of West Virginia voting ‘no.’

MORE FROM POLITICS

Politics Section Front

Senate set for health care debate   Levin: Afghan forces key to success Newsweek: Why Cheney should run in 2012 NYT: White House intruders want to sell tale NYT: S.C. rift highlights debate in GOP Life isn’t all glamor for Obama crashers Marines to renew focus on Taliban haven Can Obama retain Hispanic support? Senate report: Bin Laden was 'within grasp' Dinner crashers met Obama, White House says Politics Section Front   Add Politics headlines to your news reader: