Gates: Guantanamo "Taint" On U.S. Reputation

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the Obama administration had no choice but to order the shutdown of the prison at Guantanamo because "the name itself is a condemnation" of U.S. anti-terrorism strategy. In an interview broadcast Friday on NBC's "Today" show, Gates called the facility on the island of Cuba "probably one of the finest prisons in the world today." But at the same time, he said it had become "a taint" on the reputation of America.

Gates has served both President George W. Bush and now Barack Obama at the Pentagon. In an interview taped Thursday aboard the retired World War II-era aircraft carrier USS Intrepid, the defense secretary said that once the decision was made to close Guantanamo, "the question is, where do you put them?" He said Obama would do nothing to endanger the public and said there has never been an escape from a "super-max" prison in this country.

Of criticism the president's plan would jeopardize people's safety, Gates said: "I think that one of the points ... was that he had no interest whatsoever in releasing publicly detainees who might come back to harm Americans."

Gates said that "we have many terrorists in United States' prisons today," and he decried "fear-mongering about this."

The Gates interview was broadcast a day after Obama and former Vice President Dick Cheney, in speeches that occurred almost simultaneously, escalated the public argument over the new administration's anti-terrorism policy and claims by Republicans that it has put the nation at risk.

Obama campaigned against keeping Guantanamo open when he ran for president, and he also said he was opposed to aggressive interrogation tactics that opponents call torture. When he took office, he signed orders providing for the closure of Guantanamo by January 2010 and he also prohibited extreme interrogation practices, such as "waterboarding," in the country's anti-terrorism strategy.

On Thursday, Obama went to the National Archives, repository of treasured national documents as the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and Constitution, and forcefully defended his decision to close Guantanamo despite resistance from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress. He also said that some of the terror suspects held there would be brought to top-security prisons in the United States.

"There are no neat or easy answers here," Obama said in a speech in which he pledged anew to clean up what he said was "quite simply a mess" at Guantanamo that he had inherited from the Bush administration.

Moments after Obama concluded, Cheney vehemently defended the counterterrorism policies of the Bush administration. He expressed no regrets about actions the Bush White House ordered. And Cheney said that under the same circumstances he would make the same decisions "without hesitation."

(This version CORRECTS SUBS 3rd graf to correct to aircraft carrier, sted battleship; AP Video.)

Comments

[LinkSync]

“There are no neat or easy answers here.” Obama said.

There are but you have to have some backbone to see them and act on them.

But they do not include making “Preemptive Detention” legal in some manner I can not fathom.

Bush did it to the satisfaction it seems of everybody in power anyway.
He did it by saying he did it if I recall.
Enemy Combatants was how it was titled.

Bo continues to disappoint and disgust as he bows to the very things he campaigned against.
His claims of being unwilling to do the Expedient over what is right seem now just hollow, shallow, empty words.
Just words.
Apparently the moral conviction he calls to "…with every fiber of my being." do not include the Constitution or our Declaration of Independence when faced with "practical" and/or "difficult" matters.
Not just of terrorism, but of any kind.

Whimping out on Health Care is another good example of that same weakness.

God help us; because nobody else will, or so it seems.

[dusanotes]

If Gates is right, all Obama must do is dream up some extravagant new name for Gitmo as he did with the phrase " fight against terrorism" (Overseas Contingenncy Arrangement). All will be well -- just leave the prisoners there under false pretenses and a new name. Mr. Obama has not been transparent or forthcoming when he doesn't want to reveal the positives of enhanced means of interrogation, so why should he have to be regarding this? He could call the facility APOR, America's Plan Of Redemption. Of course "redemption" is a Christian word and Muslims don't believe Jesus Christ is the savior and redeemer of mankind, do they? Then just call it APOR and let them figure it out.

[wanttruth]

Thank you, Secretary Gates!

[jmpurser]

Guantanamo has done for America exactly what Abu Ghraib did for America.

[Bronxdude]

Despite Cheney’s advanced mental instability, republicans need to remember that Obama, McCain, and 130 million Americans voted to close Gitmo and end the use of advanced interrogation techniques, to include water-boarding. As an argument against torture, in the past 10 years, numerous convictions achieved through our legal system have been overturned because suspects provided bogus confessions extracted via torture, i.e., police brutality.

[jmpurser]

There's nothing "advanced" or "enhanced" about torture.

[tssent]

A U.S. soldier captured during war in Iraq or Afghanistan,
is he any less a "terrorist" to those countries than detainees
in Guantanamo are to the U.S.?

Under tit for tat rules, do we want see a U.S. soldier
receive a fair trial in Iraq or Afghanistan any less than
they want to see their young men receive a fair trial
in the U.S.?

Tomorow morning a U.S. citizen could rise at dawn,
drive down Main Street, kill 40 people with an Uzi,
flee to the airport, throw a molotov cocktail in the
terminal that burned down the entire airport, hijack
a prviate plane and fly it into a school building killing
150 children, and he'd get a trial in this country.

Has he commited an act any less heinous than what
detainees in Guantanmo are accused, many of them
absolutely innocent but having spent 6-7 years there?
More importantly still, would we waterboard him under
suspicion that he couldn't possibly have done such
a thing unless he was part of a secret terrorist cell
in this country?

How insane and paranoid are we going to
become before we accept the fact that you can't be
as free as this country and not have these kinds of
things happen. But shall we give up peace of mind
and rationality in the process?

We can build a prison named Gitmo that is secure
but not in the U.S?

Jim Lacey

[madHenry]

I reluctantly agree with those who have pressed the President for a well-defined plan for the remaining 240 detainees in Guantanamo. He and his foreign policy/defense folks are awfully smart people--Hillary, Bob(aka "William") Gates, and others. And they KNEW the GOPers were going to demagogue this issue. Given some of the reporting I have seen on federal "supermax" prisons, I think, as a detainee, I would prefer Guantanamo.

[Bronxdude]

In the face of mounting world pressure to expose the truth about torture and how America was manipulated into war, the ability of republicans to willfully suspend reality is impressive, but frightening. Even though Newt Gingrich continues to call for Speaker Pelosi to resign, republican cronies refuse to revisit the facts surrounding Newt’s adulterous affair with a staffer while he was simultaneously pushing for the impeachment of Clinton for the same thing. Clinton survived, while Speaker Gingrich was forced to resign in disgrace. Regardless of Cheney’s fear mongering, America will be hit again (at home or abroad) because our enemies are too many. External (and internal) threats based on extreme ideology will produce causalities, just ask Israel, Spain, Great Britain, India, Germany, etc. If Bush and Cheney were so keen about keeping America safe, why were we hit nine months into the Bush Administration? Since no administration (republican or democrat) has been able to keep us totally safe from terrorists (home-grown or imported), it’s simply unfair and unrealistic for Cheney to promote this as a benchmark of success. It’s like saying seatbelts will eradicate motor vehicle fatalities, or space travel is always safe. American is a country of laws; we are not barbarians, a fact that gives us unprecedented moral standing in the world. Right or wrong, GIs responded brutally during WWII and Vietnam to revelations that fellow Americans were being tortured. No doubt Al-Qaeda will respond the same way.

[walk0nwalls]

In all honesty we all have taints. We just do our best to keep them clean.

[LinkSync]

Agreed.

Buyt most of us at least wash our underwear when tainted.

[w8aminute]

Now all we need is for General Petraeus to agree with Secretary Gates....would the GOP turn on him like Colin Powell? You know how deep their loyalty really runs (ie Limbaugh/Powell, Coulter/McCain, etc).

[jsgaetano]

The entire GOP is a taint on the US reputation.

Lock up the whole corrupt bunch of them.

[metalpipe]

Not quite true.

This would buy into the GOP agenda of creating the ever lasting prison culture.

Any other ideas or comments?

[jsgaetano]

Sure. Release any drug criminals who don't have a history of violent behavior. There will be more than enough room for the treasonous and corrupt Goopers.

[Ping]

Gitmo was opened for the specific purpose of torturing enemy combatants. Everyone seems to get that except the Republicans and the US Senators.

[indi1216]

not only torture enemy combatants but also people suspected of being a terrorist, there are many that are there for years without any proper trial or conviction, simply there because we want to put them there to torture until they admit that they are terrorist.

[FebM]

Why not turn Gitmo into a resort - make money for the tax payers, and transfer the terrorist to Alaska? The cold will make them talk.

[Mike4Obama]

Anybody who gives a damn get in touch with your Senators if they didn't support their party leader and ask them why they caved to Republicans.

[judiNJ]

Done that already, including Senator Reid. Ended all my emails by saying, "here kitty, kitty, kitty!

[teron678]

LOL

[tippydog11]

Would not have to close Gitmo ..if Bush Cheney never opened it in the first place....and did so with plans on how to do it properly first --war in Iraq was the war war on the real terrorist..for they did not live in Iraq period ..CIA told them that ....and if Bush Cheney would of planned the war better --when terrorist were caught in war..soldiers trained to gather all info document for a later trial...No department set up in war period..over heading this .fools fools failure

[metalpipe]

So many ill informed posters on this blog. Gitmo has been open as a prison for a very long time. Do your research.

[devildog21]

Not sure where you do your research, or if you consider 10 years to be "a very long time" but there has only been a prison at Gitmo since the mid 90's. The base and Marine Barracks have been there since 1898. You are most likely confusing the two.

"Chief Petty Officer Richard Evans noted that Guantanamo already has detention facilities for about 100 people, dating from the mid-1990s, when it housed thousands of Cuban and Haitian refugees. U.S. forces currently hold 45 detainees. "

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,41744,00.html