Poll: Americans remain opposed to closing the Guantanamo Bay prison

Opposition to closing Gitmo is basically unchanged in the last six months. Sixty-four percent oppose closing Gitmo and bringing the terrorists here.

According to Gallop polling,

PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans remain opposed to closing the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba and moving some of the terrorist suspects being held there to U.S. prisons: 30% favor such actions, while 64% do not. These attitudes could present a significant roadblock for President Obama at a time when he seeks congressional approval to move terrorist suspects from Guantanamo to a converted state prison in northwestern Illinois.

Cheney is accused of making Gitmo harder to close

The Politico's Jeanne Cummings is complaining that former VP Dick Cheney is playing politics with Guantanamo and making it harder to close. Since Obama wants to bring some of the terrorists to America, most people should support Dick Cheney's elevation of this issue. It is very unfair to accuse him of playing politics. The funding to close Gitmo was defeated in the Senate by 90-6. Why was dissent patriotic in the Bush era and obstructionist during the Obama Presidency?

According to Newsbusters:

The Politico's Jeanne Cummings, a veteran of the Wall Street Journal, fretted on this weekend's Inside Washington that former Vice President Dick Cheney has “changed this debate in a way that has made it much, much harder to close Guantanamo, which the President is already committed to doing.” So he's done an awful thing in daring to oppose something President Obama is “committed to doing.” Dreadful!

In fact, she soon charged that in complicating Obama's intention to close Guantanamo -- which Obama had announced without any plan for where to place the detainees -- “Cheney really did damage to the effort to keep our country secure by turning this into a political issue. We were going to have to deal with this and to make it a political issue is not helpful. It's just not.”

To which a befuddled columnist Charles Krauthammer retorted by pointing out the overwhelming bi-partisan vote to block the closing: “Cheney is the one who turned it into a political issue? I thought it was a 90-6 vote in the Senate. Just about every Democrat in the Senate-” Cummings jumped in to blame Cheney for turning virtually every Senate Democrat against Obama: “No, Cheney started making political arguments a week ago. That is when you did start to see the tide turn up on Capitol Hill. It was after Cheney started to talk about 'I don't want to be the Member who says I brought a terrorist to a jail in my district.'”

Senate Democrats refuse to fund Obama's plan to release Gitmo terrorists in US

Senate Democrats are refusing to fund Obama's plan to release Guantanamo Bay terrorists in the US. I guess the folks back home don't want a terrorist moving in next door. IndyStar.com is reporting:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama's allies in the Senate will not provide funds to close the Guantanamo Bay prison until the administration comes up with a satisfactory plan for transferring the detainees held there, top Democrats said Tuesday. And in a further break with Obama, the Senate's top Democrat said he opposes transferring any Guantanamo prisoners to the United States for their trials or to serve their sentences. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has said 50 to 100 Guantanamo detainees may be transferred to U.S. facilities.

"I can't make it any more clear," Reid said. "We will never allow terrorists to be released in the United States."

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said Obama's plan to close Guantanamo is not dead - only that the funding will have to wait until the administration devises an acceptable plan to handle the closure and transfer the detainees. Obama has promised to close the military prison by January.

Hugo Chavez wants our Gitmo inmates

Most peoples first reaction to this proposal would be to let him have them, but that would be a mistake. Undoubtedly, Hugo Chavez would give them all medals and turn them loose to commit more acts of violence against the U.S. or our allies.

Venezuela: Chavez says he's willing to take Gitmo inmates

CARACAS, Venezuela (CNN) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he would be willing to accept prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay detention center, which U.S. President Barack Obama has said he will close, the Venezuelan government said Thursday.

Chavez also said he hopes the United States will give Cuba back the land on which the naval base is located, the government said in a news release.

"We would not have any problem receiving a human being," the government release quoted Chavez as saying in an interview Wednesday with Al Jazeera TV. (excerpt) read more at cnn.com

Terrorist: Coming soon to your neighborhood

Obama's Attorney General, Eric Holder, wants to release some of the Guantanamo Bay terrorists inside the United States. These are the individuals the Bush Administration thought were too dangerous to release anywhere. A surprising number of these detainees have returned to their terrorist ways when released to Afghanistan or other countries. This release is an expected consequence of the President Obama's decision to close Guantanamo Bay as a detention center. Our European allies don't want to take these terrorists because their laws would not allow them to lock them up and throw away the key. No country wants them. These are very dangerous men. If they move to your neighborhood, try to be nice to them and maybe they will kill you last. Is this the kind of "change" America really wanted?

Guantanamo Detainees May Be Released in U.S.
By EVAN PEREZ

WASHINGTON -- Attorney General Eric Holder said some detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, may end up being released in the U.S. as the Obama administration works with foreign allies to resettle some of the prisoners. Read more at WSJ.com

Obama stops terrorist's trials

How will this make America more safe? Perhaps President Obama wants to bring them here and let some liberal judge throw the cases out on a technicality. Trying the cases in a public court might jeopardize intelligence assets and make prosecution impossible.

Obama seeks halt to Guantanamo trials
Reuters ^ | Jan. 20, 2009 | Jane Sutton, Reuters

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) – Hours after taking office on Tuesday, U.S. President Barack Obama ordered military prosecutors in the Guantanamo war crimes tribunals to ask for a 120-day halt in all pending cases.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...

9-11 mastermind seeks martyrdom at the end of a rope

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four of his co-defendants are pleading guilty. This could clear the way for the death penalty.The military form of execution is hanging. I don't know if they really want to be hanged or if this is some legal ploy. I wish we could accept their plea and swing them by the neck before Obama takes office in January. I am sure that will not happen. I am not sure how the 9-11 "truthers" will react to this confession.

Sept. 11 Suspects Offer to Plead Guilty ‘in Full’ (Update4)