Below is my letter to Senator Reid explaining why I think he is foolish to deny the detention of people currently held at "Camp X-Ray" in the U.S.
Senator, Reid.
You have done a great disservice to the American people and to the cause of justice by siding with those who wish to keep detainees in Guantanamo Bay out of our legal system.
It is ridiculous to equate allowing prisoners at "Gitmo" to be housed in the United States with releasing terrorists onto American streets.
You know full well no one has ever suggested that the detainees at "Gitmo" be released onto American streets.
Shutting down the disgrace to American justice known as "Camp X-Ray" would be a great step in working to restore the rule of law in our beloved nation.
Keeping detainees in prison without charge in an extra legal state in an ambiguous jurisdiction is not protecting America, nor does it protect American values.
Perhaps your real fear is that you know that the majority of detainees in Camp X-Ray have been detained unlawfully and without cause. Like the few people released form the facility so far, most of those still being held are innocent of plotting against the Unite States of America.
While it would be problematic to transport perfectly innocent people who have been humiliated, and abused at our hands to our shores only to have to release them because they have been help for no apparent reason, it is still more problematic to hold them indefinitely because we are afraid to face the fact that we made a mistake.
I propose that you introduce legislation today that would fund President Obama's request for $80 million to close camp X-Ray, and lay out a process for reviewing all of the detainees held therein, then either repatriating them to their home countries. If they will be unwelcome in their home countries (let's say they were turned in to coalition forces the for cash by an Afghan warlord who will likely kill them upon return to Afghanistan) then suggest a method by which they can be housed (not detained but housed) in a U.S. Military facility until such time that a host country can be found for them. The funding for this prolonged housing should not come from the President's requested, budget for this process, but from another source. (I recommend a tax on military contractors who also operate in the private sector, especially those involved in detainee housing and oil field services)
The reality is that few of these folks are really going to want to live in the U.S. We have not been very good hosts to them so far, and I doubt they will be well received in many American cities.
Senator Reid you have come down on the wrong side of this issue at the expense of justice and at the expense of the American people. When you swore to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States, you promised to make sure that principles that have guided this nation for the past 220 years would be foremost in your reasoning. It seems you have put reason aside and opted to bow to fear mongering and hatred. Those things have no place in the Senate, and should have no place on the national stage.
Please introduce the my proposed legislation as soon as possible.
Thank you
Probably didn't need to block out my own diary.