by Mark Silva
Here's another call for the closing of Guantanamo Bay:
From Army Gen. David Petraeus.
Closing the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, will purge the United States of a symbol that enemies have used to divide the nation, the commander of U.S. Central Command and architect of the "surge'' in the Iraq war said today.
The U.S. military is "beat around the head and shoulders" with images of detainees held in Guantanamo, which President Barack Obama promises to close in a year, the commander of military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and throughout the Middle East and Central Asia, Petraeus said at a commencement address in Georgia today.
"I do believe very strongly that we should live our values," Petraeus said. "Generations of soldiers have fought to defend those values, and we should not shrink from living them, from operationalizing them, on the battlefield.
"We do not want our soldiers fighting with one arm behind their back, we do not want fair fights. We want our soldiers to be able to employ all the means that we've employed over there to support them and enable them when we make contact with the enemy," he said.
He was addressing the 38 graduates of Georgia Gwinnett College, a suburban Atlanta liberal arts school that opened in 2006.
"You might suspect that someone wearing a uniform would think of service in terms of military service," the general told the graduates. "But service comes in many forms. Whether in the commercial sector or in local political arenas, on the health care front or in the educational arena, there is much work worth doing."
How is it that Petraeus addressed the commencment of tiny Georgia Gwinnett College? The school's president, Daniel J. Kaufman, says it started with just 10 faculty members and no fitness center and celebrated its first holiday party in a classroom. Now it boasts 1,700 students and is primed to accept thousands more. Kaufman, a retired Army brigadier general, taught with Petraeus at West Point about 20 years ago.
The Associated Press contributed. Photo of Army Gen. David Petraeus, right, with Georgia Gwinnett College President Daniel Kaufman at the commencement ceremony in Lawrenceville Ga., today, by John Bazemore / AP)
Comments
Why does Petraeus hate America? Why does he want the terrorists to win? Liberal, lefty, loon, socialist, terrorist loving, frenchified, surrender monkey!
Posted by: Ranting Righty | May 29, 2009 5:45 PM
Closing Guantanamo does not make our nation less safe despite what many republicans would like you to believe. Nobody is planning to release them in to the U.S. This is just something that republicans are saying in an attempt to frighten the American people. In reality the detainees will be shipped to federal Super Max prisons where we currently house the worst criminals in the nation including many terrorist. No one has ever escaped from a super max and it is highly unlikely that terrorist will be reversing that trend. Those who are guilty of terrorist activities will spend the rest of their lives in one of these prisons and those who are deemed to dangerous to release but unable to be convicted due to tainted confessions will face the same sentence. Other detainees will be sent to their home nations or others who agree to take them but they will not be released in the United States. So this whole idea of terrorist being released in to the U.S. is just a republican scare tactic in a desperate attempt to score political points.
Posted by: Speaking Truth to Power | May 29, 2009 6:12 PM
Speaking Truth, I have no concerns about convicted terrorists or criminals escaping from a federal prison, but the Gitmo detainees haven't even been tried yet. The sticky issue for Obama is what to do with a detainee that is transferred to US soil, then acquitted or not even tried. For example, a federal court throwing out charges because the evidence was derived from enhanced interrogation. The person could be a dangerous member of AQ, and we no longer have authority to hold them. What happens to them? The easy answer is send them back to where they came from, but host countries are not eager to accept them, and there is fear that if they are returned to their own country, they will be persecuted. What happens in this situation is the thorny issue that Congress wants Obama to address before allowing the transfer to the US.
Here's what Holder recently said about it:
For "people who can be released there are a variety of options that we have and among them is the possibility is that we would release them into this country," Mr. Holder said. "That process is ongoing and we've not made any determinations or made any requests of anybody at this point."
That is what people are nervous about. Not escapees from federal prison.
Posted by: Herbie H. | May 30, 2009 1:12 AM
All the regalia on Petraeus makes him look like a cartoon character. All that regalia doesn't hide the fact that he supported so many deaths in the Cheney/Bush Big Lie. Iraq still has not met the self control requirement that The Surge was supposed to have allowed. The Surge seems to have failed. Petraeus was wrong. He is a tool of the Repug Big Lie planners. Reports now say, again, Iraq will fail when the US steps out. It's one big black hole--except for the American oil leases and the half billion dollar embassy built--funny--for us all to leave? Petraeus really must go. Obama hides behind him because Obama has no clue himself what to do with the Cheney/Bush Mess. Someone tell us that Cheney and Bush did not know that by saddling the US--and the next Dem president--with their unresolved Iraq and Afghan. mess, with Gitmo, and with the last minute "failing" of Wall Street and the connected banks--it would insure a new Repug president by 2012. Petraeus has been a player in this scenario. He has added to our national insecurity. Petraeus and the Pentagon have Obama hosed. Or else, OBAMA HAS HOSED ALL OF US. Why do you think Cheney lives outside DC--close to the Pentagon Buddies--instead of having moved back to his "home state" of Wyoming? Seeing pictures of Petraeus anywhere in the media--especially laughing in his cursedly hallowed ribbons--is a reminder of politically propped up lies and the killing of thousands of civilians, "enemy combatants" (?) and soldiers. How many humans in the past 8 years had to die for each, or more, of Petraeus' ribbons?
Posted by: Vivian | May 31, 2009 10:37 AM
Posted by: Herbie H. | May 30, 2009 1:12 AM
Well then Herbie, let's take your logic to it's full conclusion: We must suspend all trials of violent criminals and detain everyone accused of a violent crime indefinitely. The courts might fiind someone who was actually a criminal not guilty and release them back into society where they could commit a violent act again. Therfeore the criminal courts should be shut down and we should just give the police to power to detain anyone permanently. Keeping the people safe is the most important thing, right Herbie?
Posted by: nel | June 1, 2009 10:31 AM