Bumping Into The Wisdom Of The George W. Bush Administration

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A lot of the decisions made by George W. Bush and Dick Cheney have turned out to be very wise when viewed through the lens of history.  I realize there hasn't been a lot of history, but there has been enough to show us things we hadn't thought of at the time.

On Tuesday, Forbes.com posted an article about President Obama's dilemma regarding the future capture of any high-value terrorists. 

The article reports:

"In February, when the Senate Intelligence Committee asked CIA Director Leon Panetta where captured high-level al Qaeda leaders would be taken, he responded: "We would probably move them quickly into military jurisdiction at Bagram for questioning and then, eventually, move them probably to Guantanamo." The administration refused to endorse Panetta's position, but couldn't provide an alternative. "I'm not going to speculate about what, you know, would happen if we were to capture Osama bin Laden," was Press Secretary Jay Carney's reply."

The problem with Guantanamo is President Obama's stated intention to close Guantanamo.  The President is not likely to want to move any prisoners there.  The problem with Bagram is that Afghan President Karzai has made it clear that U.S. detention facilities will close when the troops depart (that departure is scheduled to begin in July of this year).  Some captured terrorists have been turned over to American allies, but that also has its problems--some of our allies have released people that will pose a threat to America in the future.

The writer at Forbes concludes:

"But Gitmo is needed, especially when Bagram closes. One option is for the president to remodel and rename the base. Call it something like "Camp Rehabilitation and Justice, Liberty Bay Cuba," and restore it to what it was meant to be in 2002: an important asset in fighting terrorism.

"Reconstituting Guantanamo, or coming up with a real alternative, is not just desirable but necessary. The death of Bin Laden marks a turning point in the war against al Qaeda, but that war is certainly not over. As a central part of finishing it, we need an effective system for holding, interrogating, and sorting terrorists. That way, pulling out of Afghanistan will be a cause for celebration, not headaches."

The political left expected President Obama to close Guantanamo.  I am not sure renaming it will satisfy his supporters on the left.  It will be interesting to see what happens if we do capture any high-value terrorists as a result of the information seized when Osama Bin Laden was killed.

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This page contains a single entry by Granny G published on May 12, 2011 4:06 PM.

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