US National Security Depends on Closing Gitmo

Local Editor

An Obama administration official told the Senate that closing the Guantanamo Bay detention facility "is a national security imperative". However, the White House faced tremendous opposition with the newly GOP-controlled Congress.

During a Senate Armed Service Committee hearing Brian McKeon, a Pentagon official responsible for advising the secretary of War on policy and strategy said that continuing to operate the infamous military prison was detrimental to the security of the United States.

Moreover, evoking the gruesome murder of a Jordanian military pilot carried out by the "ISIL" terrorist group earlier this week, McKeon warned Congress that US President Barack Obama and senior administration officials were serious about shutting down Guantanamo Bay, saying its existence only encouraged further extremist activity.

"The president and his national security team all believe that the continued operation of the detention facility at Guantanamo weakens our national security by draining resources, damaging our relationships with key allies, and is used by violent extremists to incite local populations" McKeon, a senior defense official, said in prepared remarks.

He added, "It is no coincidence that the recent "ISIL" videos showing the barbaric burning of a Jordanian pilot and the savage execution of a Japanese hostage each showed the victim clothed in an orange jumpsuit, believed by many to be the symbol of the Guantanamo detention facility."

Protesters clad in similar wear and opposed to the prison's facility interrupted the hearing several times and were repeatedly removed by Capital police.
The White House had advocated for closing Gitmo since before the start of the Obama presidency - and had come its closest yet by releasing nearly 30 detainees during the last calendar year.

However, four Republican lawmakers in the Senate Armed Service Committee - Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, John McCain of Arizona, Richard Burr of North Carolina and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina - had tossed their weight behind a bill that would prevent the administration from shuttering Gitmo, much to the chagrin of the White House.
"Because this legislation, if enacted, would effectively block progress toward the goal of closing the Guantanamo Bay detention center, the administration opposes it," McKeon told the committee.

With an end to Gitmo by any means leaving the administration with 122 detainees to deal with, though, committee leaders raised concerns during the hearing that doing as much might send suspected terrorists back on the battlefield where they can again launch strikes against America.

"There has never been a plan" from the White House for dealing with potentially dozens of detainees if the center was shut, Sen. John McCain [R-Arizona) told witnesses at the hearing.
Another committee member, Sen. Lindsey Graham [R-South Carolina], said the White House needed to send solid legislation to Congress explaining how it would sufficiently deal with the threat of potential recidivism if the prison was closed, adding, "I finally want to get ahead of the war and terror and not only play catch-up."

Yet while both McCain and Graham's remarks appeared to suggest the Republicans were open to someday shutting Gitmo if the administration and Congress could reach an agreement, other attendees at hearing appeared to have anything but the same inclination.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team