Close Guantanamo, Keep The Principle

Guantanamo Bay is a prison created to hold individuals deemed by the military as "enemy combatants." Human rights groups oppose the prison because they say it violates the civil liberties of the alleged terrorists. The situation has come to head because Barrack Obama takes office on January 20th and has called for the its closing. However, the situation has been complicated by the Pentagon's report that as many as 61 ex-Guantanamo inmates that were released returned to terrorism.

The same human rights groups calling for the closing of the prison immediately released statements claiming the Pentagon's statements are false. It is interesting to note that these groups did not investigate these claims before making these statements.

The legal challenge to Guantanamo claims that holding terrorists as "enemy combatants" allows the Pentagon to indefinitely detain people because the "war or terror" is not expected to end in the same way conventional wars do. The alternative offered is to bring the alleged terrorists to the United States and try them specially created courts. These courts would be able to handle the sensitive information that would be released in a trial and be given special jurisdiction in the country where the combatant came from. A more extreme view is to grant the combatants full Constitutional rights and thereby guarantee them a trial in a U.S. court. (Which would not have jurisdiction) This is an absurd position which will likely receive little consideration in the Obama administration.

Guantanamo Bay needs to be closed for PR reasons alone however the combatants must not be given Constitutional rights. The solution to this problem must not prevent the military from taking prisoners who they deem enemy combatants. If each person they capture is guaranteed a U.S. court, they have no reason to divulge potential life saving information. In addition, the military must have the benefit of secrecy because in many cases, it is crucial that the combatants have no communication with the outside world. Many people do not trust the military in this matter which is odd because they trust the military to drop 5 ton bombs.

On January 20th, Barrack Obama will be responsible for defending the United States. Putting hundreds of people deemed enemey combatents on the path to freedom would not be a good start. Trust the military to do there job.