Gitmo

Why is Guantanamo Bay not closed yet??? You guess is as good as mine, and its far past time that we close what has become a symbol of American aarogance and torture. There are two ways in which closing Guantanamo Bay could have negative national security implications for the American Public. The first threat is to our troops abroad, if after closing Guantanamo Bay we release and repatriate offenders then there is a significant threat to U.S. National Security. I will not be advocating that course of action this evening. The second threat is to American Citizens if we transfer prisoners from Guantanamo bay to other detention facilities within the United States and they escape. I will prove that there is no rational reason for concern about detainees escaping from a maximum security prison; this argument is a fear tactic which has become characteristic of the Republican party and my hope is that you in the audience will not fall for the irrational arguments brought about by fear and worry but rather will listen to sound logical arguments that make sense for the foreign and domestic policy for the United States. . Finally, I will also prove that leaving Guantanamo Bay open for use would have dramatic national security implications for both our troops abroad and the security of our homeland. I will draw from Democratic and Republican sources throughout my argument citing Republicans Colin Powell and former President George W. Bush as well as current President Barack Obama. The fact of the matter is that this debate is a simple one; it revolves around the closure of a detention facility which most Americans believe should be closed, a detention facility that both Democratic President Barack Obama and his challenger John McCain both supported closing as well as a slew of military hierarchy and former administration officials.
Let me begin by refuting the contention that there are no safe alternatives to Guantanamo Bay. If we were to place the detainees at Guantanamo Bay into a maximum security federal prison or a maximum security military prison within the United States it would be unreasonable to suggest that a prison break would take place at all. First, to posit that there are no reliable venues for these prisoners is absurd. The United States has 110 federal prisons and 13 military prisons around the world which house some of the most dangerous criminals in the United States and since 1999 there has only been one prison escape from a maximum security prison. Furthermore, Federal Prison Camps are mostly stand-alone facilities which are typically attached to a military or government complex. To suggest that not one of our 110 federal prisons is suitable for the transfer of 250 inmates is simply ludicrous. In To allude to the absurdity of this argument I propose this. Charles Manson, the famed serial killer is housed in a California State prison. Why is it that we don’t transfer Manson to an off-site facility since he is dangerous and might escape? However, if we do decide that the 110 federal prisons are not suitable for transfer then why don’t we pick another one of our off-site facilities. The United States currently maintains military detention facilities in Peurto-Rico, Iceland, Guam, Diego Garcia, and Naples. Surely if the 110 federal prisons are not suitable one of those off-sit facilities would provide a safe distance away from the American people.
Furthermore, the converse of the resolution is true, and leaving Guantanamo bay open creates national security implications for the United States. Guantanamo Bay and the torture practices which took place there have created a symbol for terrorist recruiting groups throughout the world to rally around and use as a recruiting tool. In 2008 officials discovered a video which was being used as a recruiting tool for Al-Quaeda and other terrorist organizations. The two-hour video included sections on Muslim humiliation at Guantanamo Bay. The closure of Guantanamo Bay will make the United States safer from terrorism by symbolically displaying to the world that we are committed to human rights and will provide one less tool for the terrorists to used to radicalize. Furthermore, the treatment many of the detainees were exposed to at Guantanamo bay has radicalized them. According to the foreign policy institute, a majority of the detainees at Guantanamo bay were innocent of any crime and were eventually released back to their home countries where many of them then went to fight with Al-Quaeda and other terrorist groups because they had been radicalized by the treatment they received or witnessed others receiving at Guantanamo Bay. Closing Guantanamo bay does make America safer. I am not the only one who believes this, in the final stages of the Bush Administration former President George W. Bush discussed the need to close Guantanamo bay because of the stain it had left on America’s image, furthermore, Colin Powell, Lawrence Wilkerson, Robert Gates, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Mel Martinez are some of the many Republican lawmakers who agree that closing the facility is safer for the American people.