11.06.15

Guantanamo: Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Obama Administration Will ‘Not Take Anything Off The Table’ In Zeal To Bring Terrorists Who ‘Will Seek To Reengage In Terrorist … Activities’ To America

 

SEN. KELLY AYOTTE (R-NH): “When the administration transfers a Guantanamo detainee who was formerly assessed as a high risk for reengagement in terrorism, the onus is on the administration to explain openly to the American people what has changed. A failure to do so suggests the administration is more interested in emptying Guantanamo so that it can close it, rather than protecting the national security interests of the United States and the lives of Americans...” (Sen. Ayotte, Press Release, 12/20/14)

 

Obama Administration: ‘We’re Going To Die Trying’ To Close Gitmo

“…President Obama is preparing to unveil a plan to shutter the facility and move some of the terrorism suspects held there to U.S. soil.” (“Obama To Launch New Effort To Close Guantanamo Bay Prison In Cuba,” Los Angeles Times, 11/4/15)

“[Lisa] Monaco has laid out the plan's key elements. It would … move foreign terrorism suspects who cannot be prosecuted but are deemed too dangerous to release to a U.S.-based facility, an option that is now barred by law.” (“Obama's Counterterrorism Chief Takes Fresh Stab At Closing Guantanamo,” Reuters, 11/4/15)

SUSAN RICE: National Security Adviser: ‘I can tell you we’re going to die trying’ “‘I can’t say with certainty that we’re 100 percent going to get there, but I can tell you we’re going to die trying,’ said Susan Rice, Obama's national security adviser, in an interview.” (“Obama's Counterterrorism Chief Takes Fresh Stab At Closing Guantanamo,” Reuters, 11/4/15)

JOSH EARNEST, White House Press Secretary: ‘At this point, I would not take anything off the table’ “White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, asked about the possibility that President Barack Obama could take unilateral moves to transfer detainees to the United States, said all options remain in play. ‘At this point, I would not take anything off the table in terms of the President doing everything that he can to achieve this critically important national security objective,’ Earnest said.” (“WH: Executive Action Possible On Closing Gitmo,” CNN, 11/4/15)

“Of the roughly 780 people who have been detained at the United States military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, 659 have been transferred and 112 remain.” (“The Guantanamo Docket,” The New York Times, Accessed 11/5/15)

 

‘30 Percent Of The … Detainees Transferred Or Released, Are Now Either Confirmed Or Suspected Of Reengaging’ In Terrorist Activities

“The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) has released its latest statistics on the number of former Guantanamo detainees who are either confirmed or suspected of returning to the fight. … The ODNI says that a total of 196 ex-Gitmo detainees, or 30 percent of the 653 total detainees transferred or released, are now either confirmed or suspected of reengaging. The number of confirmed recidivists (117) outnumbers those on the suspected list (79). The figures are current as of July 15, 2015.” (“More Than 100 Ex-Gitmo Recidivists At Large,” The Weekly Standard, 9/4/15)

 

Senate Dems: ‘We Don't Want Them Around The United States’

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV): “If people are -- if terrorists were released in the United States, part of what we don't want is them [to] be put in prisons in the United States. We don't want them around the United States.” (Sen. Reid, Press Briefing, 5/19/09)

  • SEN. BARBARA MIKULSKI (D-MD): “What would this $30 million do, and is this laying the groundwork for the dumping of terrorists into state and federal prisons?” (Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee On Commerce, Justice, And Science, U.S. Senate, Hearing, 5/7/09)

 

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Related Issues: Guantanamo Detention Facility, National Security, War on Terror