7/27/09

 
On Friday, one of the GOP’s top national security voices in the House of Representatives, Peter Hoekstra (R-MI), contradicted the leadership of his own party by acknowledging the reality that U.S. prisons are capable of holding Guantanamo detainees. Leading conservatives have launched numerous political attacks over the last few months arguing that closing Guantanamo would bring terrorists into our backyards. These arguments, as President Obama said in May, are not “rational.” The American prison system is one that has held – and continues to hold successfully – some of the most dangerous terrorists in the world. The men and women who serve their country by working at these facilities are ready and eager to do their jobs. Furthermore, the Pentagon’s top lawyer Jeh Charles Johnson acknowledged Friday that detainees could be transferred to the most secure prison facilities in the world. He also acknowledged that no prisoners would be set free inside the country, a false claim conservatives continue to make.
 
Transferring Guantanamo detainees to U.S. prisons is not only safe, but it would also enhance our security by taking away an important recruiting tool from al Qaeda. To put it simply, closing Guantanamo hurts Al Qaeda. Additionally, Guantanamo has served to undermine America’s moral authority throughout the world, undercutting one of America’s biggest international strengths. Conservatives that oppose bringing detainees to justice seem to lack faith in the American justice system and seem oblivious to the dangers to our security caused by keeping Guantanamo open. It’s about time—as Rep. Hoekstra did Friday—they acknowledge reality, and not play partisan politics with the security and safety of the American people.
 
Rep. Pete Hoekstra, House Select Committee on Intelligence Ranking Member, undercuts his party’s leadership, admits U.S. prisons can hold terrorist suspects.  Last Friday, Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R – MI), ranking member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence admitted that U.S. prisons were capable of holding terrorist suspects currently detained at the facility in Guantanamo Bay.  Speaking on the floor of the House, Hoekstra stated: “I have no doubt that we could move these folks into a prison in Michigan. We could move them into a maximum security prison perhaps anywhere around the country. And there’s no doubt in my mind that we could probably contain them and hold them and they wouldn’t escape.”  His remarks significantly undercut statements from his fellow conservatives and his party leadership that the U.S. could not hold terrorist suspects or Guantanamo detainees. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) said this month, “Instead of taking unilateral action that could put our nation at risk, the administration should listen to these concerns, take them into account, and outline a comprehensive strategy for keeping these terrorists off American soil.” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said, “Americans don’t want terrorists plotting attacks against us anywhere. They certainly don’t want them doing so in our backyards, or down the road in the local prison.” And former House Speaker Newt Gingrich moved into the realm of hysterics, saying on closing Guantanamo that “the idea we're going to put alleged terrorists on welfare and have you pay for them and me pay for them, so they get to be integrated into American society.”  [Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R – MI), via Media Matters, 7/24/09. Rep. John Boehner (R – OH), via CNS News, 7/21/09. Mitch McConnell, 5/20/09. Newt Gingrich, via NY Times, 5/20/09]
 
Hoekstra acknowledges reality: The American federal prison system can and does hold terrorists. The American federal prison system has a long history of successfully holding dangerous criminals, including terrorists. As Secretary Gates said on “The Today Show” in May, “[t]he truth is, there's a lot of fear-mongering about this... We've never had an escape from a supermax prison, and that's where these guys will go; and if not one of the existing ones, we'll create a new one.” Secretary Gates also pointed out America’s history in imprisoning terrorists, drawing from his years of experience working for the CIA, “This started 20 years ago when I was at CIA, and we captured a Hezbollah terrorist who had been involved in killing an American sailor on an aircraft that had been taken hostage in Beirut. We brought him to the United States, put him on trial and put him in prison.” The former warden at ADX Florence described the conditions on 60 Minutes, “Most prisoners spend up to 23 hours a day in their cells, every minute, every meal. The window in their cell is blocked so they can't see the mountains. Inmates can watch a 12" black and white television or read books to pass the time. And if they behave, they may get limited exercise in a one-man recreation pen.”
 
The people and communities around these facilities know that the prison system is capable of holding the detainees.  The Los Angeles Times wrote of the Supermax prison in Florence Colorado:  “Most locals don't blink at the idea of taking Guantanamo detainees -- and even the ones who object acknowledge that the issue has yet to replace cows, horses and the high school football team as a leading topic of conversation. ‘People here don't care about it,’ said Bob Wood, editor and publisher of the community newspaper, the Florence Citizen. ‘We pretty much feel that if they ship them here, these guys [the federal prison guards] will take care of them.’”  The same is true for the community around Fort Leavenworth. According to the National Journal, “Indeed, as home to four major prisons, Leavenworth is known for being pretty good at locking people up…‘Most of us who are former military in town are behind the effort, because we know the capabilities of the USDB [U.S. Disciplinary Barracks] staff to handle the situation,’ [says] former Army Sgt. Jere Smith.”  As another resident and retiree said to the National Journal, “We are a prison city; that's what we do.” [Secretary Gates, 5/22/09. 60 Minutes, 8/14/07. LA Times, 6/4/09. National Journal, 1/31/09.]

The federal prison system safely holds or has held - for extended periods of time - a large number of convicted terrorists, including:

• Ramzi Yousef. The mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombings was convicted and sentenced in 1998 by the Federal District Court in Manhattan and is being held at ADX Florence, the supermax prison in Florence, Colorado. [NY Times, 1/9/98. NY Times, 4/5/03]

• Zacharias Moussaoui. Convicting of conspiring to kill Americans for his role in the 9/11 attacks, Moussaoui is currently serving a life sentence at the supermax prison in Colorado. [NY Times, 5/3/06. NY Times, 5/14/06. NY Times, 5/5/06]

• East African embassy bombing perpetrators. Wahid el-Hage, Mohammed Sadiq Odeh, Mohammed Rashed al-Owhali, and Khalfan Khamis Mohammed are all serving in ADX Florence. [NY Times, 12/25/01]

• Richard C. Reid.  The so-called “Shoe Bomber,” Reid was convicted for trying to blow up an airliner over the Atlantic with explosives in his shoe.  He is currently serving a life sentence at ADX Florence. [NY Times, 1/31/03. NY Times,  5/14/06]

• Timothy McVeigh. Convicted of killing 168 people by blowing up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, McVeigh was held in ADX Florence until his execution on June 11, 2001. [NY Times, 6/11/01]

• Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri. The only person known to be held as an enemy combatant in the continental United States, al-Marri spent six years in the Naval Consolidated Brig in Charleston, South Carolina and is now being held in the Federal Correctional Institution in Illinois. [Associated Press Via Fox News, 5/1/09.  NY Times, 4/30/09]

• Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman. Responsible for plotting a series of bombings and assassinations, Omar Abdel-Rahman is currently serving a life sentence at Butner Federal Correctional Institution in North Carolina.[Federal Bureau of Prisons]

• Muhammad Salameh. Convicted for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, Salameh is serving a life sentence in ADX Florence. [Library of Congress, 9/99. NY Times, 3/5/94]

For America’s national security, Guantanamo Bay prison must be closed.  Last September, a bipartisan panel made up of former Secretaries of State Kissinger, Albright, Powell, Baker, and Christopher all agreed that closing Guantanamo Bay is vital for repairing the damage it has caused to America’s image. As James Baker, Secretary of State for George H.W. Bush, said forcefully: “Close Guantanamo. We were on a panel together several months ago, and we all agreed, one of the best things that could happen would be to close Guantanamo, which is a very serious blot upon our reputation.”  General David Petraeus has also said, “With respect to Guantanamo, I think that the closure in a responsible manner, obviously one that is certainly being worked out now by the Department of Justice -- I talked to the attorney general the other day [and] they have a very intensive effort ongoing to determine, indeed, what to do with the detainees who are left, how to deal with them in a legal way, and if continued incarceration is necessary -- again, how to take that forward. But doing that in a responsible manner, I think, sends an important message to the world, as does the commitment of the United States to observe the Geneva Convention when it comes to the treatment of detainees.”

Matthew Alexander – the pseudonym of the retired Air Force major and interrogator who located the notorious terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi by using conventional interrogation methods – believes that Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo were the main reasons fighters came to Iraq to attack Americans.  He said in an interview with Harper’s magazine that, “I listened time and time again to foreign fighters, and Sunni Iraqis, state that the number one reason they had decided to pick up arms and join Al Qaeda was the abuses at Abu Ghraib and the authorized torture and abuse at Guantanamo Bay...  Consequently it is clear that at least hundreds but more likely thousands of American lives (not to count Iraqi civilian deaths) are linked directly to the policy decision to introduce the torture and abuse of prisoners as accepted tactics.”  

Navy General Counsel Alberto Mora made a similar point when he testified before Congress, explaining that the stain on America’s image caused by Guantanamo Bay led directly to American deaths: “Serving U.S. flag-rank officers... maintain that the first and second identifiable causes of U.S. combat deaths in Iraq – as judged by their effectiveness in recruiting insurgent fighters into combat – are, respectively the symbols of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo.”  [Harper’s Magazine, 12/18/08. General David Petraeus, via Radio Free Europe, 5/24/09. Alberto Mora, 6/17/08. Senate Armed Services Committee, 12/08. CNN, 9/20/08]

What We’re Reading

The small ethnic group of Hazara see themselves as a swing vote in the upcoming Presidential elections in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, American troops who served in Iraq but are currently deployed in Afghanistan find the fight there much more difficult and exhausting. Meanwhile the military is utilizing farming skills to better Afghan agriculture. The British Foreign Secretary seeks a new dialogue to push the Taliban into mainstream Afghan politics, while the Department of Defense seeks contractors to organize security for Forward Operating Bases in Afghanistan.

Pakistan offers more intelligence cooperation, including helping the US find a missing US soldiers captured by the Taliban in eastern Afghanistan. The Pakistani Taliban resume attacks in the Swat Valley while the Pakistan government has not yet put into motion its pledged offensive in Waziristan. The trial of the lone surviving gunman from the Mumbai massacre is exposing terror networks in Pakistan.

Opposition parties gain more seats than expected in this weekend’s Kurdish regional elections, but concerns about Kurdish-Arab rivalries remain. Funds spent on Iraqi reconstruction projects are under increasing scrutiny by a top US watchdog in Iraq.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warns that the Iranian government’s attempts to gain a nuclear weapons are ‘futile’, while Secretary of Defense Robert Gates stated that the time for Iran to accept the US’ offer of engagement is not open ended. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continues to openly clash with conservatives from his own political base, making some wonder if he is losing influence. Iranian opposition leader Hir Hossein Mousavi seeks official sanction for memorial services for those killed since protests of their electoral dispute began.

The American Al-Qaeda member from Long Island was able to train and work with high-level Al-Qaeda leaders without the help of a formal recruiting network, worrying US security officials.

A deadline for Nigerian rebels to disarm is fast approaching.

Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya sets up a camp near the Honduran border to further pressure the interim Honduran government to let him return.

North Korean officials now claim to be open to some form of dialogue with the US.

Despite Vice President Joseph Biden’s recent criticism of Russia, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton continued to work towards a ‘reset’ of relations.

Within two West Bank settlements are seeds of compromise with the Palestinians. US Envoy George Mitchell heads to Israel following talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo stated she will respect term limits in her country and not run for reelection.

French President Nicholas Sarkozy was released from the hospital after collapsing while jogging in high heat.

Commentary of the Day

Fareed Zakaria explains why the US is on target with its minimalist approach to the Iranian crisis. Azadeh Moaveni concludes that the Iranian opposition still suffers from the lack of strong leadership, despite Mousavi’s role thus far.

Doyle McManus gives a succinct summary of Obama’s foreign policy staff’s efforts since his inauguration.

The Washington Post argues that, despite the debate over Bush’s interrogation policy, any interrogator who went beyond Bush’s policy should be liable to prosecution. The Post also endorses Rep. Chris Van Hollen’s efforts to pass legislation creating “reconstruction opportunity zones” for Afghanistan and Pakistan to spur job growth in those countries.

The LA Times argues that President Obama should maintain his timeline for closing Guantanamo and not capitulate to pressure from Congress.

Conservative Commentary

Michael Hayden continues the tired argument about why warrantless wiretapping proved successful in the fight against terrorism.

Ross Douthat argues that the Iraq War will have the gravest strategic consequences to US national security, despite pro and anti-war pundits reducing intense scrutiny of the US effort there.