Obama Closes Guantanamo Bay

Yesterday President Obama signed official documentation to close Guantanamo Bay within a year. For those that do not know, Guantanamo Bay is a detention camp operated by the United States in Cuba. There are 3 camps on the property: Camp X-Ray, Camp Delta, and Camp Iguana. Many of the people being held here are terrorists that the United States has captured from countries in the Middle East (including some who helped plan the 9/11 attacks).

The question on many American's minds is, "What are we going to do with these terrorists after Guantanamo Bay closes?" According to The Boston Globe, "Critics of the reforms, including the top House Republican, John Boehner of Ohio, argued yesterday that some of the 245 detainees now at Guantanamo could pose clear threats to national security if released. Pentagon statistics show that of the hundreds of detainees that have been released from Guantanamo since it opened in early 2002, at least 61 have returned to terrorist activities." Boehner goes on to say that, "The real fear is what do you do with these terrorists and if you make it clear you are going to close Guantanamo and you don't have a policy in place to deal with those who are housed there, what do you do? I'm concerned that some of these let go too soon could end up back on the battlefield. There are a lot of unanswered questions."

Obama has also ordered that the captives receive regular visits from the Red Cross and be treated in a humane manner. He says he thinks "...that we can abide by a rule that says we don't torture, but that we can still effectively attain the intelligence that we need." This makes me wonder though. I am not saying that I think we should brutally hurt terrorists that are in these camps but if we treat them like they are upstanding citizens doesn't that send the message to other terrorists that if they attack us (the United States) we will treat them kindly?

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2009/01/23/obama_changes_us_course_on_treatment_of_detainees/