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June 04, 2009

Why Not In My Back Yard?
Posted by James Lamond

The biggest political problem against closing the detention center at Guantanamo Bay is where to put its current residents.  Obstructionists in congress have been making the argument that we cannot bring these dangerous terrorists to the most secure prisons in the world.  Their argument is that the people who live near the prisons don't want the terrorists in their backyard, meanwhile the people who actually live in these neighborhoods don't seem to mind all too much.

Sen. Inhofe, for example, wrote in the Washington Times last week that bringing Guantanamo detainees onto American soil “would place America and its citizens at risk,” and  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said, “Americans don’t want terrorists plotting attacks against us anywhere. They certainly don’t want them doing so in our backyards, or down the road in the local prison.”

Well looks like these Senators haven’t been talking to the residents of Florence, Colorado, home to Florence ADX, America’s only supermax prison.The LA Times writes today that:

“Most locals don't blink at the idea of taking Guantanamo detainees -- and even the ones who object acknowledge that the issue has yet to replace cows, horses and the high school football team as a leading topic of conversation.

"‘People here don't care about it,’ said Bob Wood, editor and publisher of the community newspaper, the Florence Citizen. ‘We pretty much feel that if they ship them here, these guys [the federal prison guards] will take care of them.’”

While ADX is almost filled to capacity, it is one of the places best suited to house the detainees who are actually are too dangerous to release.  There has never been an escape from supermax.

Florence already hosts the worst of the worst.  Current residents of ADX Florence include,  Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombings; Zacharias Moussaoui, convicted of conspiring to kill Americans for his role in the 9/11 attacks; the East African embassy bombing perpetrators; Richard C. Reid, the so called “Shoe Bomber”; Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, held as an enemy combatant in the continental United States; and Muhammad Salameh, convicted for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.  Domestic terrorists who have resided at ADX include Timothy McVeigh, Eric Rudolph, and Ted Kaczynski.

What is most ridiculous about all of this is that politicians like Mitch McConnell are claiming to speak for the people of these neighborhoods, yet they are don’t actually reflect their opinion.  Their audience is not is the people whose backyard the detainees would actually be transferred to, rather a political audience that is simply opposed to the president's plan to close Guantanamo- an initiative that almost all experts agree is necessary.

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The problem with Guantanamo was never about its bricks and mortar. The problem with Guantanamo is that its very existence stains and defies the moral fiber of our great nation....

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