Escape From Gitmo-Shouldn't Republicans want terrorists dumped into the abusive U.S. prison system?

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Escape From Guantanamo
Shouldn't Republicans want terrorists dumped into the abusive U.S. prison system?
By Christopher Beam
Posted Friday, May 8, 2009, at 7:17 PM ET


Some members of Congress are up in arms about the Obama administration's plan to transfer Guantanamo detainees to prisons in the United States. Objections range from legal (how do we try all 270?) to logistical (how do we move them?) to plain old NIMBY-ness: "Our constituents don't want these terrorists in their neighborhoods," said House Minority Leader John Boehner.

Leave aside, for a moment, the fact that none of these detainees has been convicted of anything—unlike the inmates already in constituents' neighborhoods. Also forget, if you can, the nonsensical nature of these objections. (Aren't most prisons already full of dangerous people?) Instead, consider this: If Guantanamo Bay detainees land in American prisons, they may find themselves treated worse than they are now.

The administration has not specified where exactly it would relocate detainees. It's generally assumed that most of them would land in a maximum-security facility. The federal "supermax" prison in Florence, Colo., already home to such unsavories as Zacarias Moussaoui, Richard "Shoe Bomber" Reid, and Ramzi Yousef, the man responsible for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, would be a logical destination. So would the Pentagon's maximum-security prison at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas or California's Pelican Bay State Prison.

But many members of Congress don't like the idea of terrorists breathing the same air as their constituents—even if it's behind three fences and two sets of bars. "Do you want the terrorists in your hometown?" asked Rep. Todd Tiahrt of Kansas. Rep. Frank Wolf of Virginia said he didn't "want to wake up one morning and on WMAL news hear that one of these guys did something."

In addition to the "Keep Terrorists out of America Act"—try opposing that—which would prohibit moving terrorists to U.S. facilities without the permission of state governors and legislatures, members have introduced bills that would keep the detainees out of their states. Some even specify the facilities. Kansas Rep. Lynn Jenkins wants to put a "Do Not Enter" sign on Fort Leavenworth, while Colorado Rep. Doug Lamborn's would say, "No Terrorists Allowed" in the ultra-secure Supermax.

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http://www.slate.com/id/2218032/