More NIMBY on Gitmo: Obama's First Executive Order Screw Up

President Obama's first line of business was to close Gitmo. The left cheered but here is the thing. As I said before, there will be the problem with people not wanting terrorists in their backyard.

The Republicans came out with legislation to test Obama and the Democrtas and it's a shot across McCain's political bow.

Before I get to the story, here is one on Fort Leavenworth.

Kansas politicians and local government officials have complained loudly about the possibility of America’s most troublesome captives being brought to the Midwest. Opponents’ arguments center on security — both that the military prison might not be equipped for such high-risk inmates, and that the fort and the community might be targeted by terrorists.

“This is just not going to happen on our watch,” said U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican.

U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, a Kansas Republican, said he had been told by officials from Muslim countries that they would no longer send officers to the Army Command and General Staff College if the detainees came to Fort Leavenworth.

“We’ve already heard from students from Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia that they will leave, or be pulled by their governments, if the detainees from Guantanamo are moved there,” Brownback said. “It’s where these relationships are built with foreign officers, particularly in the Islamic world. This really hurts us.”

Obama’s administration has yet to address where the Guantanamo inmates will end up. In fact, the detainees’ ultimate destination poses a myriad of unsettled legal questions.

Take note that Obama is signing executive orders without a clear and safe plan.

The unscientific poll on Gitmo:

Should the Guantanamo Bay detention center be closed?


Yes 261 36%
No 472 64%
Total Votes: 733

Here is what McCain had to say about Gitmo and Leavenworth.



Here is what House Republicans have done.

House Republicans Introduce Bill Banning Gitmo Detainees From U.S. Soil

With President Obama ordering the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility within the year, House Republicans today introduced legislation to prohibit federal courts from ordering the release or transfer of detainees from the facility onto U.S. soil.

“Closing Guantanamo Bay presents a clear and present danger to all Americans," said House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lamar Smith. "These suspected terrorists must now be relocated and if they are transferred to military prisons in the U.S., they automatically will be granted rights far beyond those given to enemy combatants by any other country."

“The result is that many will petition friendly federal judges who may order their release into U.S. communities," he continued.

The legislation, known as the Enemy Combatant Detention Review Act, has the backing of Minority Leader John Boehner and other prominent House Republicans.

In addition to preventing courts from bring enemy combatants into the U.S., the bill requires that an alien captured and detained abroad during wartime cannot be admitted and released into the country.

McCain needs to go. I hope to hell there is a Republican that runs against him in the Republican primary and beats him.