Camp Pendleton the new Gitmo?
posted at 6:15 pm on January 16, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
The good news for Californians? Barack Obama may have a great new public-works project to help stimulate their bankrupt government and moribund economy. The bad news? They get to keep the world’s worst terrorists right by a big terrorist target:
The U.S. military has prepared a list of U.S. military bases that could be used to house as many as 250 detainees currently being held at the U.S. Naval base in Guantanamo Bay, military officials tell ABCNews.com.
The list — which includes Camp Pendleton in California, Fort Leavenworth in Kansas; the Marine Air Station in Miramar, California; and the U.S. Naval Consolidated Brig in South Carolina — has been circulated in a classified brief to members of Congress and was prepared by the Pentagon’s Joint Staff. …
The preliminary list was based on cost, logistic, and security concerns, but the Department of Defense is expected to present a more comprehensive recommendation based on a variety of factors, according a military official.
Camp Pendleton was determined to be the least expensive option and officials say its vast 125,000 acre size would allow for a new prison to be built in an isolated and secure area.
And Nevadans thought the Yucca Mountain nuclear storage project was a bad deal. San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station isn’t just near Camp Pendleton. It’s surrounded by Camp Pendleton. The nuclear power plant would make an excellent target for terrorists looking to create a disaster in response to the detention of their comrades on the military base.
That’s not the only stupid notion in this plan. An interstate freeway runs all the way through Pendleton as well, Interstate 5, which goes from Mexico to Canada. If any of the terrorists manage to escape Gitmo, they have nothing but water for a destination. If they escape a detention facility in Pendleton, they would have access to the Eisenhower federal highway system.
Small wonder Barack Obama warned that it might take years to close Gitmo. If this is the best choice for an alternate, let’s keep Gitmo open instead. After all, with all of the Hope and Change taking place next week, why do we need to close Gitmo anyway?
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
Comment pages: 1 2 Next »
Just great.
baldilocks on January 16, 2009 at 6:18 PM
Why don’t they just keep them at the Nuclear Power Plant so when they are released they can all go to Iran and let them know what they are doing wrong.
izoneguy on January 16, 2009 at 6:20 PM
Well, we have lots of spare Californians, what could possibly go wrong.
NoDonkey on January 16, 2009 at 6:21 PM
If BO insists on bringin’em to America- please God, let it be Kalifornia!
ExTex on January 16, 2009 at 6:22 PM
Can’t we just waste the guys?
Sharks need food, too.
blatantblue on January 16, 2009 at 6:22 PM
So we bring these scumbags into the U.S., read them their rights, furnish lawyers for them, call the alcu, call San Fran., call cindy sheehan, call code pink; have I missed anyone? I don’t want to be exclude anyone.
Johan Klaus on January 16, 2009 at 6:23 PM
Not only that, but it would put these guys in the area of the 9th Appeals court…. not a good idea at all…
Romeo13 on January 16, 2009 at 6:24 PM
We should have had the Afghans house those bastages from the start.
TheSitRep on January 16, 2009 at 6:24 PM
So do they house the terrorists close enough to the nuclear power plant that they can blow up SoCal? Here’s hoping.
highhopes on January 16, 2009 at 6:26 PM
This is the kind of logic and reasoning we are going to have to deal with the next 4 years….. that’s depressing. Build a prison on Marine Base? Why not K-Bay Hawaii since we are floating stupid ideas?
Ed hit the nail on the head, Pendleton is too close to populated areas, as is Miramar. And lax immigration enforcement in California only makes security challenges worse. Pendleton is big, but if you broke out at night, your could reach civilization before dropping dead of dehydration. Not hard to navigate either, but I won’t say way incase Obambi gives those turds a laptop and a ISP.
Hog Wild on January 16, 2009 at 6:26 PM
Call the new prison The Allahmo.
BL@KBIRD on January 16, 2009 at 6:27 PM
The great thing about Gitmo is a secure US facility without bringing the terrorists to America. It that isn’t possible, turn the bastards over to other nations for processing.
highhopes on January 16, 2009 at 6:28 PM
I think that you are wrong. They were all just fleeing a wedding that our “Baby killer” military had bombed.
Johan Klaus on January 16, 2009 at 6:29 PM
Didn’t Harry Reid object to using Yucca Mountain for nuclear waste? Why not turn in into a detention center instead? It’ll be just like back home in the caves of Afghanistan. Culturally sensitive and everything.
Wethal on January 16, 2009 at 6:29 PM
Great! Dump more problems on California!
righty64 on January 16, 2009 at 6:30 PM
Yeah, bring them down here to Texas. We will take of them.
Johan Klaus on January 16, 2009 at 6:31 PM
Why all of the gloom and doom?
Most here would think they’d make great schoolteachers.
Gunslinger on January 16, 2009 at 6:32 PM
Ha.
Weight of Glory on January 16, 2009 at 6:35 PM
Or community organizers..
the_nile on January 16, 2009 at 6:35 PM
Baldi, how about Shemya or Adak? **very evil smile**
Stick them on a island… there is no way they would be able to go anywhere.
upinak on January 16, 2009 at 6:36 PM
So obvious! Alcatraz!
Wethal on January 16, 2009 at 6:38 PM
In other news, tax hikes will be renamed income depressants.
Chuck Schick on January 16, 2009 at 6:38 PM
I will house them for no charge.
Johan Klaus on January 16, 2009 at 6:38 PM
Why not an island they can’t swim off of? And have to find their own food?
I am such a jerk. :)
upinak on January 16, 2009 at 6:39 PM
Turn ‘em loose in Berkeley.
whitetop on January 16, 2009 at 6:39 PM
I have some more great ideas for this plan. Let’s put the armory just next door to the cells. Let’s also leave the keys to the cell doors in the door locks. Let’s also have no guards.
Sweet evil Jesus, I fear for this republic.
MadisonConservative on January 16, 2009 at 6:39 PM
Got Guns?
upinak on January 16, 2009 at 6:40 PM
I live twenty minutes south of Camp Pendleton and forty minutes north of the border with Mexico, with the Pacific in front of me, and the rest of you behind …………
……………. I am soooooooooooooooooooooo fu@ked.
Seven Percent Solution on January 16, 2009 at 6:43 PM
I vote for the Faralon Islands. If they get in the water the sharks could bite ‘em in half. (they’ll eat anything)
thomasaur on January 16, 2009 at 6:43 PM
PEOPLE! Come on! Haven’t y’all been listening to me??? If nObama wants to spend $$ on infrastructure projects like a new Federal Pen to house these terrorists, why not build it along the border with Mexico? The border cities could use the capital investment in their economies, no longer booming due to the trickle of illegals trying to come over. This would provide additional border security to the host state, cause what idiot in his right mind is going to try to run past a well-armed military prison, right? I mean, would YOU try to anchor just off the coast of G. Bay for a snorkel? I think not! You’d get shot or at least run off.
If they go to Pendleton, would they change the world famous ‘running family’ warning signs to reflect the turban and beard of the potential escapees crossing Interstate 5??? s/off
Biffstir on January 16, 2009 at 6:44 PM
Your complaint is that putting prisoners near a nuclear facility might encourage their terrorist friends to target that facility? Will the terrorists not notice the facility unless we imprison people nearby? Are you seriously suggesting that terrorists could target the facility now, but don’t have enough incentive to do so — and that having their friends nearby would provide the extra incentive? I don’t understand this argument. Maybe you’re saying that if prisoners escape, they’d somehow then be able to attack the nuclear facility?
As for prisoners escaping, do you have any evidence that this is a real concern? 24 and Harold and Kuman notwithstanding, have there ever even been any near-escapes from Guantanamo? I know escapes happen sometimes (for example in Afghanistan), but presumably they can beef up security if it’s at all an issue. We’re talking about 250 prisoners here, not thousands. Maybe I’m being naive, but I don’t think it’s beyond their capability to ensure there’s no chance of escape.
tneloms on January 16, 2009 at 6:44 PM
Hey our new hero is from the Bay Area. So there!
baldilocks on January 16, 2009 at 6:46 PM
The terrorists already ARE in Berkeley.
Christian Conservative on January 16, 2009 at 6:47 PM
I think the currents in San Francisco Bay are quite strong. Only people to escape were never heard from again. Of course, they could have been lying low, but are more likely thought to have been swept out to sea. I doubt swimming lessons were part of the al Qaeda training.
Wethal on January 16, 2009 at 6:47 PM
Basically my backyard in Orange County was Pendleton…the power plant, driving down “5″ was known as the monument to Dolly Parton. And it was famous for this sign. Which are on the south side of Pendelton. It is one of the check points for illegal aliens.
I have to disagree with the ease of movement, basically there is one road out of Pendleton, definitely a busy freeway, but just one, the “5″ freeway.
And you don’t lose much if Oceanside is sacrificed…FYI to all you surfers, just to the left of the power plant (whcih they are dismantling) is Trestles, one of the great surfing areas in the world. And to the left of that was the Western White House of Nixon’s.
right2bright on January 16, 2009 at 6:49 PM
Alcatraz would be awesome, the liberals up there could feed them and take care of them…a perfect solution.
right2bright on January 16, 2009 at 6:50 PM
Survivor: Al Queda?
Could even film it and sell it to Hollyweird…
Romeo13 on January 16, 2009 at 6:50 PM
WE NEED the Gitmo Prisoners HERE in California!
Arnold has managed our state into a HUGE budget deficit and we NEED Obamadollars to help bail us OUT.
Can we start right away? Besides we need a good prison in S. California.
originalpechanga on January 16, 2009 at 6:53 PM
Are you saying that there are never escapes from prison?
Before 9-11, I had no evidence of a terrorist flying an aircraft into a building in New York city.
Johan Klaus on January 16, 2009 at 6:54 PM
The closing of Gitmo is so unnecessary.
CP on January 16, 2009 at 6:56 PM
Don’t Marines and their families live in Camp Pendleton?
It’s one thing if the marine is mustered up and assigned to go live in Camp Delta at Gitmo for a while.
It seems like another thing entirely to place these terrorists in the same area as these guys loved ones.
“Hey! Thanks for your service and sacrifice. Meet your new neighbors!!!”
JadeNYU on January 16, 2009 at 6:56 PM
So what’s a few more?
We should apologize to for the horrid way we’ve been treating the poor detainees by getting them some nice houses in the most upscale neighborhood in Berkeley.
malclave on January 16, 2009 at 6:58 PM
Seriously, just bring back Alcatraz!
Its surrounded by water, its hard as hell to escape from and if they got out, they’d get to San Francisco, swear they ended up in hell and run back to Alcatraz!
Defector01 on January 16, 2009 at 6:59 PM
One thing: do we want to locate the “new Gitmo” so close to a hotbed of another sort of terrorists?
baldilocks on January 16, 2009 at 7:00 PM
Interstate 15 is not far to the East of Pendleton. And Mexico, with George Bush’s heavily protected secure border is maybe 45 minutes away by freeway.
Another brilliant move. Osama Obama would do better transferring the terrorists to Chicago, where they could live will Bomber Billy Ayers and Bernardine.
Actually, Obama would do well to resign before taking the oath and sparing the nation the misery we’ll have to endure as a result of his incompetence, arrogance and wacko-lefty beliefs.
MrScribbler on January 16, 2009 at 7:01 PM
But ex Marine, John Murtha says that Marines are cold blooded babykillers.
Johan Klaus on January 16, 2009 at 7:02 PM
Alcatraz is the ticket, except for all those pesky tourists. Better yet, the shoe in Pelican Bay where they become the 72 virgins for the inmates.
J.J. Sefton on January 16, 2009 at 7:04 PM
Yeah, Alcatraz, then let the Navy use it for target practice.
Really, Libs, what’s the diff? Gitmo or somewhere here in the U.S.? Why? Why bring them here, just so that you can say you were against Bush?
Tony737 on January 16, 2009 at 7:05 PM
I don’t think you want to put a bunch of American-killing, God-hating terrorists around a bunch of devil dogs, do you?
Wait.
We are talking about Gitmo and not the Democratic leadership, right?
madmonkphotog on January 16, 2009 at 7:09 PM
They should probably be housed in our nothernmost base in Alaska. They know how to stay alive in the heat. They would have a harder time escaping in the cold.
Do we still have a base at Diego Garcia?
njcommuter on January 16, 2009 at 7:10 PM
I thought the whole point was to close Gitmo and just release these guys.
Frankly, I’d rather have that than this.
What a joke.
If our government subscribes to this idiocy, then we deserve whatever happens. Because we vote in the government.
Hawkins1701 on January 16, 2009 at 7:10 PM
Listen, just because we’re allowed to summarily execute every last one of them under the Geneva Convention doesn’t mean we can just violate the – wait…
apollyonbob on January 16, 2009 at 7:12 PM
We’re on the same page.
baldilocks on January 16, 2009 at 7:12 PM
I think we had an air base in Greenland we were going to close. Even if it’s still open, there’s probably room to expand, and the likelihood of escape would be small.
Wethal on January 16, 2009 at 7:14 PM
The nuclear plant and Highway 5 might not be the biggest concern. Pendleton is (or at least was) prime illegal immigration territory, as least judging from the signs. And usual no one checks you while going from the U.S. to Mexico.
By the way, no one has swam off of Alcatraz and been heard of again while conscious, but the unconscious and undiscovered are still cause for concern.
calbear on January 16, 2009 at 7:14 PM
The reason the lefties wanted Gitmo closed and the inmates moved to the US was to bring them within the full jurisdiction of the federal courts. Regardlss of where they are, the ACLU, and the big DC firms doing their pro bono work for “human rights” would be filing habeas corpus petitions immediately.
Wethal on January 16, 2009 at 7:17 PM
Well I offered Shemya (due to the tsunami’s they recieve frequently) or Adak due ot the rats and small caribou population. Who do think would survive?
You can’t swim in the ocean due to 45 at most in the summer and the strong aluetien currents that will either take you into the Bering Straight further to another uninhabitated island (like Rat Island which has the most earthquakes in the world) or the current can take you into the Pacific… which you will never be found.
Besides.. San Fran won’t reopen Alcatraz. What tourist wants to see Muslim Terrorists?
upinak on January 16, 2009 at 7:20 PM
The reason Pres Bush and VP Cheney used Guantanamo is to keep these scum out of the physical jurisdiction of the US Courts packed with Clintonian and Carterian liberals. Once these vermin are transferred to US soldiers, the leftwing trial lawyers will be having a field day to get them released. Moreover housing these terrorist scum in California, would ensure that the most liberal federal district and appellate courts would be determining WoT policy. If that doesn’t send shivers up your spine, you must be a friend of Bill Ayers.
eaglewingz08 on January 16, 2009 at 7:21 PM
I5… San-O… And I live right next to Camp Pendleton!
Mazztek on January 16, 2009 at 7:23 PM
Which is why Obama may try begging other countries to take them, regardless of whether those countries would release them to go back to terrorism (which some have). He could disclaim all responsibility for their release that way, say.
Wethal on January 16, 2009 at 7:26 PM
There are illegals all over Pendleton. How hard would it be for a fellow terrorist to sneak on base disguised as an illegal to try and break them out?
We almost blew up some illegals during Claymore mine training many years ago. You should have seen those guys run!
wdmdoug on January 16, 2009 at 7:26 PM
It depends what’s on display.
If it’s just a tour where I get to see the high quality korans and prayer rugs we provided for them, I’m not interested.
If, however, they’d like to put a couple of them in a carnival dunk tank….well…..I’d buy a few balls.
JadeNYU on January 16, 2009 at 7:29 PM
Area 51 might be a better choice. Keep them there and then say the detainees don’t exist.
wdmdoug on January 16, 2009 at 7:31 PM
Didn’t the article describe this information as coming from a “classified brief?”
Our media at work…
cs89 on January 16, 2009 at 7:34 PM
We`re so going to get hit within the next 4 yrs. Let`s pray casualties are kept at a minimum.
ThePrez on January 16, 2009 at 7:37 PM
Who? Oh… you mean that racist Representative from PA.
Hog Wild on January 16, 2009 at 7:40 PM
What’s wrong with ADMAX Florence? It’s in the middle of the country and it’s where we have all the other terrorists. It’s also in the middle of nowhere. So, all the terrorists attorneys and friends will just love it!
Blake on January 16, 2009 at 7:50 PM
So are Midway and Wake Island. Don’t even need a fence there.
BobMbx on January 16, 2009 at 7:52 PM
Since we can’t DRILL in ANWAR….
The best part — all the reminiscing over the “good old days” in tropical Gitmo.
cthulhu on January 16, 2009 at 7:55 PM
Well it was about 3 degrees today in Kansas, so if they want to put up tent cities and keep them here for the winter, and then move them to say, the old March Air force base in Riverside Kalifornia, for the smoggy, hot summers- have at it.
anniekc on January 16, 2009 at 7:56 PM
ANWR.. no war in ANWR.. yet.
upinak on January 16, 2009 at 8:00 PM
Ed you should moonlight for Homeland Security, your mind seems far savvier than those working there now
Noneya on January 16, 2009 at 8:05 PM
Red State State of Mind on January 16, 2009 at 8:06 PM
You may be right on track, and thi smight be an unfortunate necessity to wake people up to the craziness of the left. Of course they’ll never be interred anywhere close to the gated communities of the far left elite; that’s asking too much isn’t it?
Red State State of Mind on January 16, 2009 at 8:09 PM
It’s brilliant!
When California falls into the ocean (as the mystics and statistics say it will) the O-Man will get blamed for “waterboarding” the whole sorry lot.
(Rove- you magnificent bastard…)
Bruno Strozek on January 16, 2009 at 8:10 PM
Yes it is… but doesn’t “interred” mean “buried?”
cs89 on January 16, 2009 at 8:11 PM
On the plus side its accessible to Hollywood for escapees. Miramar would be even better.
burt on January 16, 2009 at 8:15 PM
ALL WRONG! Why screw with military facilities
I support the San Quentin model. We need an island cut off from the mainland, surrounded by strong currents and frigid waters. Therefore I cast my vote for Martha’s Vineyard.
Ted Kennedy could play a critical role in ushering in a more civil and humane detention facility while personally vouching for the treacherousness of the local waterways.
By donating the Kennedy Compound of Hyannis Port,Ted could provide an enduring legacy of his family’s storied and emblematic history of national service, of standing up for the disenfranchised and downtrodden yet helping to protect our nation through strength. I can imagine no greater honor.
moxie_neanderthal on January 16, 2009 at 8:20 PM
Ooops…make that Alcatraz….
moxie_neanderthal on January 16, 2009 at 8:23 PM
If they send the GITMO gang to South Carolina, keep your eyes on Ft. Sumter! The blue states voted for this change, let them have the GITMO gang.
james23 on January 16, 2009 at 8:39 PM
Great. New sign needed?
unclesmrgol on January 16, 2009 at 8:40 PM
that’s it, they’ve got to go to Chicago, as pay back for their foisting Sheik Obomber on the rest of us.
james23 on January 16, 2009 at 8:42 PM
Is there even any sort of point to moving them at all, or is it just pure symbolic hopenchangeocity?
OK, they’re not in Gitmo; they’re back (um, home?) in the contintental United States – so freaking what?
logis on January 16, 2009 at 8:46 PM
So are Midway and Wake Island. Don’t even need a fence there.
BobMbx on January 16, 2009 at 7:52 PM
—–
Did we buy bikini atoll, or just lease it?
Mew
acat on January 16, 2009 at 9:00 PM
If I was a terrorist I’d sue – the weather’s nicer at Gitmo.
Still, nice to see Obama rehousing them to what end? Keep his pledge to close Gitmo?
It would be nice to hear him explain how to actually deal with these people – unlawful combatants, many of whom will not be accepted back by their own countries.
Ares on January 16, 2009 at 9:10 PM
Good grief. My dad was stationed at Camp Pendleton in the 1940s. He is rolling over in his grave, I’m sure.
capitalist piglet on January 16, 2009 at 9:12 PM
Like most everyone I’d like to see the new President succeed – it’d be great if he could remind the world:
a) Who and what these men are and how they were detained
b) How many ex-prisoners from Gitmo rejoined the jihad
and
c) What an unlawful combattant is.
I think the general public might be able to understand.
Ares on January 16, 2009 at 9:14 PM
What? Obama is going to keep these poor misunderstood souls in prison? I thought the idea was to turn them loose and send them home. If they are going to stay in prision, what difference does it make where?
MikeA on January 16, 2009 at 9:21 PM
How about 29 Palms? It’s a giant, arid, inhospitable place that is almost entirely composed of live fire ranges. No prison facilities needed: Just drop them in the middle and wash your hands of it all.
“Survivor: Mojave Desert”
joewm315 on January 16, 2009 at 9:30 PM
Ares on January 16, 2009 at 9:34 PM
And I’m sure there would be plenty of US attorneys who’d relish the opportunity to represent them.
Red State State of Mind on January 16, 2009 at 9:42 PM
If they have to be here, I say we send them to Miramar. Their comrades may confuse that with “Myanmar” and wind up on a wild goose chase in Burma.
fiscallyconservative on January 16, 2009 at 9:48 PM
We could accidently camp them next to the firing range at Pendleton…could make a good Marine target practice.
Buyah
jbh45 on January 16, 2009 at 9:59 PM
Why not build them an island in US waters? Because all I have to say, as a native San Diegan!, (…forget Californian) is HEEYLL NO!
I mean really? Miramar? Just because they’ve got so much land around the base that they use a good percentage of it as a garbage dump, DOESN’T mean we need to put more heftier pieces of garbage there. As for Camp Pendelton, I would think it would be just a tiny bit of a security risk that it’s about 5 miles from a nuclear power plant, I don’t know, maybe it’s just me.
For that matter, and I’m sure NO ONE will consider this, but both Camp Pendelton and Miramar come under “fire” danger every year. What are they gonna do with the prisoners when the fire comes lapping at the sides of the prison fence? Have them tow the fire line? I’d like to see that. A bunch of Islamic terrorists protecting America.
PresidenToor on January 16, 2009 at 10:35 PM
KOOL! I gotta 50/50 chance they be in my backyard!
What about Diego Garcia?
How bout we use that guy “Vince from Sham Wow” to do the interrogations?
DSchoen on January 16, 2009 at 10:42 PM
Or San Clemente Island! Bombs are going off there al the time!
Lots of Goats too!
They’ll feel right at home!
DSchoen on January 16, 2009 at 10:52 PM
Oh Pendelton would be nice for those folks. Life wasn’t easy enough at Gitmo, so spend our tax dollars and build them a real, 5-star, big house along the coast of North San Diego County.
The ACLU will advance the cause that it’s cruel and unusual punishment to have the Islamic assholes looking out at all those perfect rights at Trestles without being able to paddle out into the lineup.
Gidget Goes Islamic coming to a big screen soon.
PC14 on January 16, 2009 at 11:34 PM
I think Obama should ask Sarah if she has a place in Alaska she could store them.
huckleberryfriend on January 16, 2009 at 11:41 PM
How about the ICBM complex at Laputa?
mojo on January 16, 2009 at 11:59 PM
Comment pages: 1 2 Next »