Closing Club Gitmo in Favor of Camp Rehab the Arab

President Barack Obama signs a series of executive orders, Jan. 22, 2009, pertaining to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba, as retired generals and admirals look on in the Oval Office of the White House. Obama ordered the closure of the camp and banned the use of controversial CIA interrogation techniques. But he left open the question of how his administration will deal with any detainees it concludes are too dangerous to be released.
Joshua Roberts-Bloomberg News

Carol Platt Liebieu:

Well, well. MSNBC tells us that "the world" welcomes news that President Obama will close Guantanamo. As a "citizen of the world," surely this will make the new President's heart beat faster with joy.

For the rest of us, however, it's sobering. Where, exactly, does the new President propose that the collection of terrorists -- an increasing number of whom, the Pentagon disclosed a week ago, are returning to the battlefield --go?

Do we really want jihadists in prisons, mixing with and radicalizing the general prison population, in Kansas and other maximum security jails? And wouldn't the ACLU have a great lawsuit on behalf of armed robbers, for example, if such prisons became a target for terrorists determined to martyr their brothers inside, while taking a few Americans at the same time? Does the Obama administration really think that radical jihadist terrorists are the functional equivalent, say, of the typical maximum security inmate population?

Jack Murtha says he'd house 'em in his district. Murtha opines that "They're no more dangerous in my district than in Guantanamo." Perhaps he might want to let his constituents weigh in on that -- especially if escapes or attacks occur, and if general inmate population recruiting goes well for the terrorists incarcerated there.

Oh, and for those who think that this move will buy America any meaningful "good will" on the part of our enemies, check out the quote from a former detainee in Pakistan appearing in the MSNBC story linked at the top of this post: All prisoners at Guantanamo must be freed. Tells you all you need to know -- but hey, "the world" is pleased with the US. What else do you need?

The world rejoices:

To many around the world, the decision Thursday by Obama to close the reviled prison within a year is welcome news. But it is especially so in countries such as Saudi Arabia, where the detention facility has become a symbol of U.S. injustice toward Muslims and Arabs around the world. At one time, Saudis made up the second largest group of detainees there, and, according to a Saudi human rights lawyer, at least 13 Saudi families were still awaiting freedom for relatives detained at Guantanamo.

a bit strange to hear Saudis speak of "U.S. injustice":

In Saudi Arabia court proceedings routinely fall far short of international standards for fair trial, and take place behind closed doors. Even in capital cases, defendants normally do not have formal representation by a lawyer and are often convicted solely on the basis of confessions obtained under duress, torture or deception.

Official Saudi figures also show that currently there are at least 3,000 political detainees held without charge or trial.

Death penalty
Executions are usually carried out by beheading, sometimes in public.

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