A legit question to my fellow DUers..

[Sebass1271]

I know we all want Gitmo to close but i am concern with one thing: Where will Obama place the prisoners from Gitmo? Would like them in your neighborhood? Others countries have rejected the transfer from the prisoners to their locations.

I believe there is a legit concern. What will President Elect Obama do with the prisoners?

[AndyA]

1. I hear there's a nice house in Preston Hollow in Dallas with extra room.

And there's a ranch with many taxpayer funded improvements in Crawford, Texas.

That should take care of a few of them.

[merh]

7. I was thinking more along the lines of the heavily fortified

ranch in Wyoming, fortified using taxpayers' money.

[AndyA]

10. That too.

And don't forget the mansion in Virginia. Hey, Rummy is down the street, a few can go there as well.

And that toxic dump site that's needed? How about putting it next to that big compound up in Kennebunkport? :rofl:

[Nikki Stone1]

2. How about their own reality show at one of Oprah's houses?

"Big Brother: Gitmo Survivors Edition" with Oprah as special host?

[Sebass1271]

6. You guys feel like playing today? It is a LEGIT question...

for Gods' sake!!

[sinkingfeeling]

3. For some reason I don't think those confined for the last 6 years at Gitmo are any more

dangerous than the felons we have in our state prisons. Most of them probably committed nothing more than resisting our invasion. I think I read something yesterday that said some countries have offered to take some.
I have no more fear of al-Qaeda than I do of some of my fellow Americans.

[Redbear]

4. I think they go to federal prison if there are federal crimes involved

or sent back to their homes.

[CLANG]

5. Deport them to their home countries

They have apparently not committed any crimes, since they haven't been charged, so there is no need to transfer them to another countries custody. Simply give them each $500, a plane ticket, and viola, problem solved.

[Sebass1271]

9. I agree that this should be part of the solution. to send them back

to their home countries.. but what about those that because of being unfairly jailed for six years and tortured are now angry at us for doing those horrible crimes and therefore go back home with rage and enroll for gija (sp?)as payback to us?

[AlCzervik]

8. why would they be in any of our neighborhoods? Do you have a prison on your street?

many of them haven't even been charged with anything.

[riderinthestorm]

11. This is where the pedal meets the metal as far as the US being a land of laws and justice

We (the royal "we)") have created this mess. We tainted these peoples' cases to the degree that most of them will never be able to be appropriately charged and/or jailed.

We must give them a trial. I presume that more than a few true terrorists will be set free because of how we handled them these past 7 years. And I expect that some of them will perpetuate a heinous crime/act of terror in the future. But until/unless we put our house of justice in order, and regain that basic building block in a sound democracy, we're more fucked than if we continue to keep them locked up in legal limbo.

Are you brave? Are you courageous? Are you truly willing to do anything for your country? This is where you hit that wall. We're going to have to let some of them go because of the terrible decisions made by GW Bush and this Admin in order to restore our republic.

And good people, innocent people will die because of this. They may be you or me, or people we love. But this is something we must do. We must screw up our courage and do the right thing. And the right thing for these people is to give them a trial and live with the consequences.

I'm sure even if some of these men were NOT terroristically oriented before they landed at Gitmo, they sure are now. 7 years locked in a cage for nothing would fill most people with rage. I am truly afraid of this group now.

But trying to be brave, I know that the right thing for our country's future health is to face up to this wrong with as much courage as we can.

Peace.

[Sebass1271]

24. So, in other words, we should release them all knowing

that eventually they will attack us so we can restore our credibility and show the world the rule of law? Will the american people accept this claim by (maybe President Obama), if we are attacked again?

[RaleighNCDUer]

26. You are aware, aren't you, that NONE of these prisoners attacked us?

Those who attacked us are dead.

A very few of these guys helped plan the attack, possibly, and if that can be proven they will spend the rest of their lives in federal prisons. Most of these guys are merely footsoldiers who resisted our armed forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.

If there is another attack, we will deal with that attack when it happens. There is NO moral justification for keeping people imprisoned for what we THINK a FEW of them MIGHT do.

[riderinthestorm]

27. No, we try them first in a court of law

some of them will be proven guilty and then they will be legitimately housed in a federal prison. Some will certainly go free.

But I believe we have to suck it up and deal with the mess we've created. It's going to end badly, probably very messy. But it's a disaster right now as it stands. We can't simply just keep them in detention for...ever?!

I believe if anyone can do the right thing, and persuade the American people to do the right thing, it's going to be Obama. But it will take courage on our parts to support him and yes, even deal with a potential future attack for doing the right thing.

This Admin has fucked us in so many ways. This one is a biggie. Gitmo has international ramifications that MUST be addressed. Must be. The entire world is watching what we are going to do with Gitmo. Keeping these people jailed indefinitely is the wrong answer. Getting them a fair trial is the right answer, and then dealing with the consequences is the right answer imho.

[Caliman73]

34. Well...

If the rule of law means anything to us as a nation then yes, we may have to release men that we have unjustly imprisoned for the past 6-7 years knowing that they may want to take revenge. If a case cannot be made regarding detention of prisoners then the prisoner has to be released. The American people have really been done a disservice by the Bush administration. The government cannot promise 100% security. Democracy and liberty are messy things. When we start to strip away human liberty and freedoms on a gamble that doing so will keep us safe, then we lose the freedoms and gain no tangible increase in safety.

[Beausoleil]

12. If they've been charged with a crime, try them

in the legitimate court system. If not, release them. If there's not enough evidence to charge them after 6 years, they should be released and sent home.

We can't warehouse people simply because we don't like them. If there are terrorists there, prove it and charge them.

Gitmo was only set up to get around the Geneva Conventions and international law. Do we want to continue this lawless behavior subsidized by the American taxpayer?

[flvegan]

19. Agreed.

[surrealAmerican]

20. ... and remember, evidence obtained under torture ...

... is unreliable and inadmissible in any court in the US.

[spanone]

13. royal cruise line with our apologies?

[Birthmark]

14. Put them in prison

The accused terrorists don't have super powers. Even those that really are terrorists are mere mortals. A standard prison will house them adequately and safely.

[Soylent Brice]

15. why does anyone care where?

there are prisons all over this country. everyone makes it sounds like we're transferring friggin Magneto or some shit.

lock them up in a federal prison, run their asses through the courts, and be done with it.

it's not complicated.

[Sebass1271]

16. It is not that simple.. The american people will have a FIT

if they are told these "terrorists" will be moved near them.. TRUST ME.. and Obama will pay for this in the long run..

[RaleighNCDUer]

28. There are already people who are individually far more dangerous

than ANY of these guys in prisons across the country. I live three blocks from Central Prison in Raleigh, and I often forget to lock my doors, and I don't worry about it because they are on the OTHER side of those walls.

What do you think a "terrorist" is, anyway? Why are you so scared of them?

[Soylent Brice]

33. exactly

if i spent my time worrying about who my fucking neighbors were i wouldn't have a home.

[yurbud]

17. these guys haven't been charged with anything--why not send them to their home countries?

[Terran]

18. If you have to keep insisting that your concerns are "legit"

then they probably aren't.

What were you thinking, that these men, once in a normal US prison, would stage some spectacular escape en masse and run amok across all of America? You've been watching too many movies.

[Sebass1271]

21. and you are living in la la land.. if you think these are not

questions that shouldn't be raised. This if not discussed and find solutions will bring President Elect Obama a lot of headaches. Your dismissal of my OP and your lack of participation is appreciated. - now, go right ahead an open your thread....

[Terran]

31. What questions?

Yes, I dismissed your OP because it's just silly. Your typical full-security federal prison houses people that are far, far worse than anyone currently residing in Gitmo. There's good reason to believe that very few of the inmates there are even "terrorists"--most of them were just swept up off battlefields as 'prisoners of war' and haven't done anything worse than oppose U.S. forces perceived to be invading their lands.

As for the alleged concerns of Americans living near these prisions where the inmates might be sent, people already living near federal prisons often do so because they work in the prison or a family member works there, so if there's an issue there, it going to based on faulty notions (like yours) of who these inmates actually are. I'm really not sure what you're concerns are...you're afraid the prison will get blown up or something so their terrorist buddies can rescue them? People do have "NIMBY" issues ("Not In My Backyard") about a lot of things, but in this case the government will have the right to do whatever it wants to do; Obama will have a lot headaches but this will not be one of them.

[tomreedtoon]

22. Turn bankrupt shopping malls into halfway houses.

Shopping malls are going bankrupt all over America. Most likely the Federal Government will be owning them due to the bailouts anyway. Why not utilize them as halfway houses?

Make the larger stores and walkways into sleeping areas. Turn the smaller stores into classrooms and offices. Bring in doctors, instructors and other officials. Get them ready to repatriate to their own countries. Reparations for what we did to them will be difficult if not impossible, but at least we can make some kind of gesture.

The whole idea is to make these people hate us a little less, so they'll be less likely to kill us in the next Middle Eastern war.

[treestar]

23. Since they won't be living in the neighborhood, but in prisons

I don't think I'll lose sleep over them.

[Winterblues]

25. You ever wonder why there are no Iraqis at Gitmo?

Follow that logic..

[proud2BlibKansan]

29. They are sending them to Leavenworth - in my back yard

And no I don't mind. I would much rather have them on US soil where they are less likely to be tortured.

[fishbulb703]

30. Federal max security prisons are almost impossible to escape from. I would have no problem at all.

[byrok]

32. It's hard to believe

some of the answers I'm reading. First of all, being kidnapped and tortured for years is probably far worse than being sent to any prison for 20 years. Especially if you're innocent. What has been done to these people, in George Bush's name, is sick.

If they committed an actual crime, not one of Bush's bullshit made up terrorist crimes, then they should be brought HERE to stand trial in front of a non-military jury. With actual evidence, not "I'm sorry but that's classified" bullshit made up lies. If they are convicted, an appropriate punishment with consideration given to their torture, should be rendered. If not, they can live next to me and my family if they want.

We're not afraid of so-called terrorists, we're afraid of the same REAL terrorists that they are... the U.S. Government.