DamnYankee
No Neg Policy
- Apr 2, 2009
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Not a fan of Dick Morris, but this is a rather interesting co-written piece on the closing of Gitmo and the prisoner dilemma.
THE TERRORISTS' BEST U.S. HOPE
By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN
Published in the New York Post on May 23, 2009
THE TERRORISTS' BEST US HOPE - New York Post
President Obama is attacking a red herring when he defends his decision to send the worst terrorists at Guantanamo to United States prisons by saying the likelihood of escape from secure federal facilities is very low.
Of course it is. No rope ladder or prison laundry truck is likely to do the trick.
But when it comes to federal judges, we can't be so sure.
The reason we sent the terrorists to Guantanamo in the first place, rather than bring them onto US soil, was never really connected to worries that they might escape. The Bush administration feared, quite correctly, that if the inmates were in federal prisons on US territory, federal judges would take their pleas for constitutional rights more seriously.
That argument is still true, and bringing the terrorists to the United States puts us at risk that they could be freed by court order.
Some detainees will be tried in US courts on US soil. The first will be tried in New York.
This raises two problems: First, if he is acquitted, where will he be released? Likely, he'll just be invited to walk out the door and onto the streets of New York. Second, is there a danger of terrorist retaliation or attempts to interdict the trial with violence?
continued....
THE TERRORISTS' BEST U.S. HOPE
By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN
Published in the New York Post on May 23, 2009
THE TERRORISTS' BEST US HOPE - New York Post
President Obama is attacking a red herring when he defends his decision to send the worst terrorists at Guantanamo to United States prisons by saying the likelihood of escape from secure federal facilities is very low.
Of course it is. No rope ladder or prison laundry truck is likely to do the trick.
But when it comes to federal judges, we can't be so sure.
The reason we sent the terrorists to Guantanamo in the first place, rather than bring them onto US soil, was never really connected to worries that they might escape. The Bush administration feared, quite correctly, that if the inmates were in federal prisons on US territory, federal judges would take their pleas for constitutional rights more seriously.
That argument is still true, and bringing the terrorists to the United States puts us at risk that they could be freed by court order.
Some detainees will be tried in US courts on US soil. The first will be tried in New York.
This raises two problems: First, if he is acquitted, where will he be released? Likely, he'll just be invited to walk out the door and onto the streets of New York. Second, is there a danger of terrorist retaliation or attempts to interdict the trial with violence?
continued....