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January 14th,
2008 - Joint Chiefs Chairman: Close Guantanamo |
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Joint Chiefs Chairman: Close
Guantanamo By Robert Burns Associated Press January 14, 2008 The chief of the U.S.
military said he favors closing the prison here as soon as possible because
he believes negative publicity worldwide about treatment of terrorist
suspects has been "pretty damaging" to the image of the United
States. "I'd like to see it
shut down," Adm. Mike Mullen said Sunday in an interview with three
reporters who toured the detention center with him on his first visit since
becoming chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff last October. His visit came two days
after the sixth anniversary of the prison's opening in January 2002. He
stressed that a closure decision was not his to make and that he understands
there are numerous complex legal questions the administration believes would
have to be settled first, such as where to move prisoners. The admiral also noted that
some of Guantanamo Bay's prisoners are deemed high security threats. During a
tour of Camp Six, which is a high-security facility holding about 100
prisoners, Mullen got a firsthand look at some of the cells; one prisoner
glared at Mullen through his narrow cell window as U.S. officers explained to
the Joint Chiefs chairman how they maintain almost-constant watch over each
prisoner. Mullen, whose previous visit
was in December 2005 as head of the U.S. Navy, noted that President Bush and
Defense Secretary Robert Gates also have spoken publicly in favor of closing
the prison. But Mullen said he is unaware of any active discussion in the
administration about how to do it. "I'm not aware that
there is any immediate consideration to closing Guantanamo Bay," Mullen
said. Asked why he thinks
Guantanamo Bay, commonly dubbed Gitmo, should be closed, and the prisoners
perhaps moved to U.S. soil, Mullen said, "More than anything else it's
been the image - how Gitmo has become around the world, in terms of
representing the United States." Critics have charged that
detainees have been mistreated in some cases and that the legal conditions of
their detentions are not consistent with the rule of law. "I believe that from
the standpoint of how it reflects on us that it's been pretty damaging,"
Mullen said, speaking in a small boat that ferried him to and from the
detention facilities across a glistening bay. He said he was encouraged to
hear from U.S. officers here that the prison population has shrunk by about
100 over the past year, to 277. At one time the population exceeded 600.
Hundreds have been returned to their home countries but U.S. officials say
some are such serious security threats that they cannot be released for the
foreseeable future. Only four are currently facing military trials after
being formally charged with crimes. Mullen also walked through
an almost-completed top-security courtroom where the military expects to hold
trials beginning this spring for the 14 "high-value" terror
suspects who had previously been held at secret CIA prisons abroad. He was
told that audio of the proceedings might be piped to locations in the United
States where families of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, and perhaps others,
could hear them. Mullen's predecessor,
retired Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, is a defendant in a lawsuit by four
British men who allege they were systematically tortured throughout their two
years of detention at this remote outpost. On Friday a federal appeals court
in Washington ruled against the four men. It was six years ago that
Guantanamo Bay received its first prisoners, suspected terrorists picked up
on the battlefields of Afghanistan as the Taliban government was being ousted
from power. The facility is on land
leased from the Cuban government under terms of a long-term deal that
predates the rule of President Fidel Castro. It is commanded by Navy Rear
Adm. Mark Buzby. Gates, at a Dec. 21 news
conference at the Pentagon, noted the administration's failure to settle the
closure debate. "I think that the
principal obstacle has been resolving a lot of the legal issues associated
with closing Guantanamo and what you do with the prisoners when they come
back (to the United States)," Gates said. "Because of some of
these legal concerns - some of which are shared by people in both parties on
Capitol Hill - there has not been much progress in this respect," he
added. After the terrorist attacks
of Sept. 11, 2001, the Bush administration considered Guantanamo Bay a
suitable place to hold men suspected of links to the Taliban and al-Qaida,
contending that U.S. laws do not apply there because Guantanamo is not part
of the United States. Lawyers for the detainees have challenged that
interpretation ever since. Before he finished his
Guantanmo Bay visit and flew to Key West, Fla., Mullen got a look at a site
on the eastern shore of Guantanamo Bay - opposite the terrorist detention
center - where the U.S. military is building a new refugee camp that would be
used in the event of a sudden, major influx of refugees in the area.
Initially the camp will be designed to hold 10,000 refugees and is scheduled
to be finished by June. Copyright © 2008 The
Associated Press. All rights reserved. External link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080114/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/guantanamo_joint_chiefs_15 |