Obama Wrong to Close Gitmo

Obama Wrong to Close Gitmo

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
February 24, 2016

In yet another disastrous decision Barack Obama announced the closing of Guantanamo Bay detention camp (Gitmo) that has been incarcerating enemy combatants since its inception in January 2002.

“This is about closing a chapter in our history,” said Obama on Tuesday. In closing Gitmo and continuing to release captured terrorists, many of whom return to the battlefield, as well as planning to relocate others to the US mainland, it will only further remind people of the devastation visited upon New York City, Arlington, VA, and Shanksville, PA on a beautiful late summer morning 15 years ago.

The September 11, 2001 chapter in American history will no more be closed than the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 will ever be closed. Indelibly etched in the hearts and minds of Americans of all ages and stripes, closing Gitmo will only serve to remind people of the feckless nature of Obama and his administration. An administration that refuses to call the enemy what they are – Muslim/Islamic extremists and/or radical Muslims – even when they themselves, in the form of ISIS/ISIL call themselves the Islamic State.

During his announcement Obama linked himself to former President George W. Bush and Arizona Senator John McCain, both Republicans; by saying they too supported the shuttering of Gitmo. Unfortunately, both Bush and McCain were just as wrong as Obama remains today. Obama said that former bipartisan support for the closing of Gitmo turned into a partisan issue. That’s because those in favor of retaining Gitmo for the purpose of imprisoning the enemy seeking to kill Americans, Christians, Jews, and otherwise destroy the fabric of Western Civilization, got a clue, saw the light, and understand how dangerous these savages are.

Closing Gitmo “reflects our best thinking,” said Obama. Obviously, he is not thinking clearly at all. Only 91 detainees remain in Gitmo, said Obama, noting that 85 percent of the more than 800 have been returned to other countries. What Obama failed to indicate in his whitewashing of the story, is that many of the detainees have returned to the battlefield to continue their bloodthirsty quest of torture, car and bus bombing, beheading, and even immolation of those they deem infidels. Such “infidels” have recently included Christian children wanting to play soccer, Jewish mothers and children innocently riding buses in Israel, and Muslim children listening to so-called modern music.

Obama then attempted to make the case by saying there are “only 91 detainees” remaining in Gitmo, when he was guilty of releasing most of them in the first place. Of those, 35 are to be transferred to other countries – countries, that Obama said need to have strong security measures. How will Obama know? To which countries will these terrorists be sent? What assurances does he have? Such a thoughtless decision runs counterproductive to the continuing fight against terrorism, yet Obama said “we’ve examined all the options.”

How about the option of keeping Gtimo open and never having released the first terrorist?

Instead, Obama announced these terrorists will likely have new addresses in Colorado, Kansas, South Carolina, and six military bases, which he said would save money and lower costs by about $85 million a year. Save money by not building soccer fields for the terrorist prisoners. Save money by not giving terrorists cushy-tushy lives heeding to their demands for special food and housing conditions.

“The left portrays Gitmo as Treblinka with palm trees,” said Col. Ralph Peters on Fox News Wednesday morning. These terrorists have 300 channels of satellite television, a 20,000-plus book library, healthcare rivaling that which American citizens PAY for, thousands of video games, legal representation – all paid for by we the people – the taxpayers of the United States of America. The living conditions of these terrorists are far better than they would ever have in their third world toilets of countries. There are American veterans living on the streets who should be treated better than these terrorists, but they are not a priority to Obama. What is a priority to Obama is having normalized relations with Cuba as a legacy item.

Obama also advised that one of the most effective options is via the federal court system. These are enemy combatants, not common criminals – terrorists who want to see us, as a whole, dead, and Western Civilization a distant memory – just as they are attempting in Europe with the destruction of Christian religious antiquities.

On the very day Obama made his myopic announcement a former Gitmo detainee was arrested in Spain for plotting terrorist attacks. Also within hours of Obama’s statement Republican presidential hopefuls Senator Ted Cruz (TX), Senator Marco Rubio (FL), and Donald Trump decried it as misguided and dangerous, calling for Gitmo to not only remain open, but expand its numbers of terrorist detainees. On the flip side, and demonstrating their utter lack of understanding of this situation, both Democrats seeking their party’s nomination, Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders (Socialist-VT) fully support Obama’s plan. As a former Secretary of State Clinton should know better, but her record proves otherwise.

Call your House members. Call your Senators. Implore them, politely, to block the closure of Gitmo and make the lives of those confined there less comfortable. Call 202-224-3121 for the Capitol switchboard. There is far too much at stake as this nation is at a crossroads with the White House up for grabs, and now, due to the untimely passing of judicial giant Antonin Scalia, the Supreme Court also hangs in the balance. It is imperative that we the people make our voices heard now more than ever.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.