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Blog - Posting DetailXML Blog Postings via RSSIN CASE YOU MISSED IT: TIME NAMES CHARLESTON #2 SPOT TO RELOCATE GITMO DETAINEES
If Not Gitmo, Then Where Should Terror Detainees Be Held? http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1873669,00.html With President Barack Obama having ordered the closure of the Guantanamo Bay military detention facility within a year, the U.S. faces the challenge of finding a new lockup for terrorism suspects currently behind bars, and those captured in future. Reports released by the Pentagon, the Center for American Progress, and Human Rights Watch, among others, have recommended several possible sites, most of them in military bases. But moving the Gitmo inmates almost anywhere on U.S. soil would likely set off a political firestorm. Pennsylvania congressman John Murtha, a Democrat, is ready to see the captives moved to his own state, saying they would be "no more dangerous in my district than in Guantanamo." His constituents are far from convinced. Some see an economic benefit, because building a maximum-security prison would provide jobs. But others don't want terror suspects in their backyard. Diane Gramley, president of the 12,000-member American Family Association of Pennsylvania, has described Murtha's idea as "ludicrous." (See pictures from inside Guantanamo) And Murtha is rare among legislators on Capitol Hill in his willingness to have the suspects incarcerated in his district. Most are vociferously opposed to the idea. Possible Gitmo replacement sites include: 1. U.S. Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat, and Senator Sam Brownback, a Republican, have publicly opposed the idea of bringing Gitmo inmates to Leavenworth, which is in close proximity to its surrounding community, including an airport, farms, and hospitals. Brownback, terming such a transfer as "unwise and unsafe," has also introduced legislation calling for 90 days notice prior to transferring enemy combatants to another possible site, in Charleston, SC. 2. U.S. Naval Consolidated Brig in Charleston, South Carolina 3. Camp Pendleton, San Diego, CA Hunter introduced legislation on Thursday to prohibit the transfer of Gitmo inmates to Pendelton or to the nearby Miramar Air Station. "Redirecting these detainees to Camp Pendleton would present a serious threat to surrounding military installations and resources, as well as the community's civilian population," Hunter wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates earlier this month. 4. Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar, San Diego, CA Miramar was included in the bill introduced by Congressman Hunter to prohibit transferring Guantanamo detainees to existing facilities, or to construct new detention facilities in the same areas. 5. U.S. Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility, Florence, CO The 37-acre prison has 490 beds and at present holds 430 prisoners. Like Leavenworth, it has solitary confinement units enclosed by steel doors. Extreme security is enhanced by motion detectors, cameras, laser beams, attack dogs, 1,400 remote-controlled steel doors and 12-foot high razor wire fences throughout the facility. 6. Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York City, NY
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