By Kristen Wall
College republicans
On Jan. 21, 2009, President Obama gave the order to shut down the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility, as he promised he would do during his campaign. It is not a surprise that human-rights activists who considered Guantanamo Bay, or Gitmo, to be a giant stain on American history are dancing in the streets. However, in his Jan. 27, 2009, opinion column in The Wall Street Journal, Bret Stephens asks the most important question concerning the closing of Gitmo: Where are the world's most dangerous enemy combatants, men who are known terrorists, going to be held now?
There is a reason the most dangerous men in the world are held in a remote location, hidden away from normal society. IT IS BECAUSE THEY ARE THE MOST DANGEROUS MEN IN THE WORLD. Do we really want these international terrorists who want to kill Americans released to their native lands - countries that aren't exactly the biggest fans of America? Do we really want to trust these criminals to countries like Syria? Even the most adamant human-rights activists would probably have to say no.
The biggest complaint the Democrats have against Gitmo is that prisoners are held without being charged with crimes. However, when these detainees are set free, they will presumably rejoin their terrorist comrades. Such was the case in 2007 with Said Ali Al-Shihri, who after being released, was identified as an al-Qaida facilitator for youth traveling to Afghanistan. He wanted two individuals to assassinate a writer based on a fatwa by Sheikh Hamud bin Uqla. He also trained in urban warfare at the Libyan Camp north of Kabul, Afghanistan. If there were ever a case for holding someone without trying them, I believe this would be it.
There is another option. These terrorists could be transferred to Fort Leavenworth, in Leavenworth County, Kansas, which holds the Department of Defense's only maximum-security prison. However, Fort Leavenworth does not want to take these prisoners because the detention facility is unequipped to handle such dangerous criminals and holding the prisoners there would make it a target for terrorists. Also, there is always a possibility of a breach in security, in which terrorists would be loose in the middle of the United States. At least at Guantanamo Bay, if prisoners ever did escape (God forbid), they are on an island in the middle of the ocean, instead of running loose in the Midwest.
There has always been controversy surrounding the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility, mainly because no one really knows what goes on there. But, at a place where the most dangerous men in the world are housed, do we really want to know what goes on? As long as America is safe and no American's constitutional rights are being violated, I really don't care what happens down there. The men kept at Gitmo are some of the most dangerous criminals in the world, and they are there because they are suspected of plotting to kill Americans. It is a grave mistake to close down Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility, a decision President Obama will come to regret.
Kristen Wall is the first vice chair of College Republicans at UW-Madison. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
