Let's cut to the chase: Obama still does not have a plan as to what to do with these inmates. He offered only generalites--something he is quite accomplished at.
Obama says that our prisons our tough enough for Gitmo terrorists, adding "Nobody has ever escaped from one of our `supermax' prisons which hold hundreds of convicted terrorists."
Did Obama tip his hand as to where some of these Gitmo terrorists may end up residing? While we have several federal maximum security facilities that are very unpleasant places, he have only one true supermax prison, the one in Florence, Colorado. The Unabomber lives and sleeps there, as does Ramzi Yousef, the bomber in the first World Trade Center plot. In the early 1990s, some of Yousef's fellow WTC plotters planned a scheme to rescue Sayyid Nosair, the Meir Kahane assasisin, from Attica State Prison. As Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) explained in a bloggers' conference call last week, there are some people planning Gitmo rescues.
I believe such plots are destined to fail, but al Qaeda members are not the most rational people on the planet, and they have no fears of collateral damage caused by a prison break, i.e., prison staff and civilians could die.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney also gave a speech about Gitmo and enhanced interrogation techniques such as waterboarding. Cheney, bereft of the emotional backdrop of the interior of Washington's National Archives building--because he's not veep anymore--pointed out a grand total of three terrorists have been waterboarded. Cheney reminded his audience of the roughly biannual parade of jihadist terror attacks against America that culminated with 9/11.
Crucial intelligence was gained by enhanced interrogation performed at Guantanamo Bay, Cheney said, and that there have been no such attacks since 2001.
While appearing on Fox News this morning, former George W. Bush advisor Karl Rove said that Obama spoke from a "weakened position" as he have his speech.
Obama suggested repatriating some Gitmo detainees, but that poses problems. Terrorists sent to Yemen, for instance, regularly "escape."
And this morning the New York Times, yes the New York Times, reported that one in seven released Gitmo inmates have gone back to their jihadist ways.
Related post:
Report from the GOP Whip Team bloggers' conference call about military voting and Gitmo
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