AOL Hot Seat Poll: Gitmo closing
posted at 3:45 pm on January 25, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
I’ve been under the weather this weekend, but I’ve managed to pick myself up long enough to write a new AOL Hot Seat poll. The fun for this one will be to see how one-sided this yes/no poll will get. In this case, the correct answer is so obvious that one would have to be the most Hopeandchangey zombie to miss it.
Enjoy, and consider this an open thread for Sunday.
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seven per cent=100%
good going.
lizzee on January 25, 2009 at 9:00 PM
Are you talking “evidence” in the sense of American criminal justice or what?
Obviously, “evidence” as regards enemy combatants is another subject.
The fact that “evidence to prosecute is a mess” in American criminal justice terms is a compelling reason not to bring them here to any state because they’d argue this and get off.
And HELL, NO THEY’RE NOT COMING TO TEXAS!!!
They would be shot on sight, evidence or no and trial or no!
Jenfidel on January 25, 2009 at 9:04 PM
Regarding the moonbat Linda Panetta: she may be somehow related to Leon, but she’s not his daughter according to multiple sources.
Wikipedia
Hartnell University
Panetta Institute
john1schn on January 25, 2009 at 9:04 PM
If this is your reasoning…then we should bring them to Texas. We could give ‘em a 500 gun salute…IYKWIM…
john1schn on January 25, 2009 at 9:06 PM
Jenfidel on January 25, 2009 at 9:04 PM
Why do you think w let them go?
getalife on January 25, 2009 at 9:06 PM
I agree that Gitmo should be closed so that we can move forward, but I think all of the prisoners should be sent back to their home countries. Were’nt the ones that are supposedly innocent sent there because other people in their home countries claimed that they were committing terrorist acts on the battlefield? Let Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and the like take care of them. I don’t care if they’re tortured, murdered, or whatever. We shouldn’t have to give them room and board in prisons in the U.S. while the other countries get off scot-free. W let some of them go because, yes, some were found to be innocent, but you also have to think about the fact that some were let go due to lack of evidence. That doesn’t always mean that they were innocent. Your logic is way twisted. My statements above may not be the smartest in the world, but turning around and saying that it’s okay to let them go when it’s been reported that SIXTY of them returned to combat is a little stupid. But then again, facts don’t get in the way of the far left and far right, now do they?
NathanG on January 25, 2009 at 9:26 PM
Dude, I didn’t even see the debate you are engaged in but you lose all credibility with any intelligent human being when you cite Wikipedia as a “source” for your position.
highhopes on January 25, 2009 at 9:29 PM
I just left the Navy after 23 years. Let’s talk about Obama’s crapping after he lifts don’t ask/don’t tell this week.
highhopes on January 25, 2009 at 9:32 PM
Send them to Vermont,train them early,as ski patrollers,
during deer season,
with a nice big shiny ‘Red Cross’s'!!Okay,I know,a nasty idea!
Well,I thought it was about positive results that take
these nutjob Jihadys straight to h#ll!(Sarc!).
————————————-
Seriously tho,I thought it was all about denying any
terrorist the ability to be on American soil,like dead
or alive!
Now,President Obama wants to change policy,and allow
Jihadys in America rights,and yet you would think,being safe,so far,for 8 years under Bush,is to keep’em out!
Liberal Lefty thinking once again,for a grand F^^%^%up
to happen once again with the feely-touchy ideas that
guarantee safety to no Americans with Gitmo being closed!
Obama,as President,is treating the Jihadys,as American
minorities,and is disregarding real Americans right of
being safe!
And really,what about the children,the favourite pawn,that the Left love to use!
I would imagine,K-class,grade 1 or 2,these children going home,and saying the terrorists are being freed,or moved to
a less secure area,that should be an interesting discussion!
Lets replace Jihadys with violent sex-offenders,and see how
hot the discussion becomes,I’m sure,anybody would be out-
raged,of course,unless your a Liberal concerned only with
the rights of the Martyr’s and Sicko Sex Offenders!!
canopfor on January 25, 2009 at 9:34 PM
NathanG on January 25, 2009 at 9:26 PM
My logic is based on facts and reality. Now, that might seem twisted for those who cling to ideology and only read one side.
But thanks for the response. All I was hearing were crickets.
Have a good evening.
getalife on January 25, 2009 at 9:34 PM
The Navy hasn’t used GITMO for training for years. It really has no military value other than 1) sticking it to Castro and 2) a place to put America’s enemies without bringing them to the US where the rules change.
It was a legal stroke of genius for the Bush administration to use GITMO as a holding pen for terrorists. Removed from the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq but not within the US where the bastard terrorists would be afforded more accomodation for a civil trial. Obama and much of the left (including McCain) never got that distinction and never will. I am somewhat gleeful in the aftermath of the filthy bastard’s inauguration that he signed off on almost immediately shutting down GITMO without any idea about what to do with the very bad people still detained there.
highhopes on January 25, 2009 at 9:39 PM
And that’s why, DUDE, I included multiple sources. I don’t rely on Wiki alone either. Or weren’t you reading?
john1schn on January 25, 2009 at 9:48 PM
Riiiiiight. And that’s why you quoted John Cole, who, apparently, after reading the whackadoo crap on his website Balloon Juice, must be at least a former Republican with Terrett’s tendencies or a left-wing hack. Trust, you’re no more an expert on this situation than the right-wingers on this website calling Obama a filthy bastard.
NathanG on January 25, 2009 at 9:50 PM
But the first source you cited was Wiki. That’s all that needs to be said. No serious discussion includes that particular source and you made it your lead source. You may not rely on Wiki but you use it as a source. You used it as a primary source. That makes anything else you say completely meaningless because you are citing morons.
highhopes on January 25, 2009 at 9:55 PM
I hope the Camp Delta and associated camps at Gitmo are not closed down…have addressed that before, often, here at HA.
But, lets dispel the notion that Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is going to be closed down. It is not. That stupid shorthand and a lack of clarity in the media is going to get us in trouble one of these days. Oh, yeah…it has already, many many times. There is much more going on at Gitmo than JTF-GB and the detainees. And a lot of money has been spent upgrading facilities at Gitmo over the past decade that have nothnig at all to do with detainees or JTF-GB, or Camp Delta, or the other smaller camps.
Do your homework….please. There are a variety of DoD, and Navy, and other services activities stationed there, a growing military dependent community, teen center, Boy and Girl Scout troops, Army personnel, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard and Navy stationed there. They just built a multi-million dollar base rec center, have upgraded base housing. And, if you have access to milnet you can find out all sorts of things going on at Gitmo that have nothing at all to do with detainees.
Obama, in his usual clarity of voice, may indeed want to close all of Gitmo…but I rather doubt it.
coldwarrior on January 25, 2009 at 9:57 PM
Oh, yeah, one more thing…GBNS also is the only Navy Base deriving a good portion of its electric power needs from a windfarm recently constructed. Of the fifty or so square miles of land area at Gitmo, Camp Delta and associated camps take up only a couple city blocks.
coldwarrior on January 25, 2009 at 10:00 PM
NathanG on January 25, 2009 at 9:50 PM
Never claimed to be an expert but actually it was from my paisan Amato:
http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/gitmo-wheres-evidence-cases-impossible-
The other side:
http://www.heritage.org/Research/HomelandSecurity/wm763.cfm
The simple question remains, why did w let them go?
getalife on January 25, 2009 at 10:07 PM
Why did W let them go? Let’s see, a federal district court so ordered in the case of a few of them. Public out cry and limelight hogging by politicians (here and abroad) nudged a few others out the door, and a few were found “not dangerous” by a military review commission, a large number were repatriated to their home countries for adjudication. Unless your “why did W let them go” question is merely rhetorical, perhaps spending just a few moments here and there looking at the record, you’ll find the answer.
coldwarrior on January 25, 2009 at 10:11 PM
Trust, you’re no more an expert on this situation than the right-wingers on this website calling Obama a filthy bastard.
NathanG on January 25, 2009 at 9:50 PM
You are, of course, correct. He’s a clean, articulate bastard. Heh.
FishFearMe on January 25, 2009 at 10:17 PM
Disagree. Don’t our remaining FFGs use Gitmo? And with the rise in Venezuelan vehemence, Gitmo is well positioned as an intel source.
Agree.
Thanks for the support.
NaCly dog on January 25, 2009 at 10:19 PM
You are making a rather large assumption that Wiki was used as a primary source. Actually, Wick merely parroted what was said on the other sites that were noted. Of course, you likely didn’t even bother to check because you WANTED so badly to be right in your assumption that using Wiki is ALWAYS wrong.
I since you weren’t reading, are you one to think that Linda Panetta is Leon Panetta’s daughter? Or is it too much for you to admit that my argument, despite your distaste for the “sources,” primary or otherwise that were used to prove the point that I made?
Don’t be a putz. Wiki isn’t always right, but that doesn’t make it ALWAYS wrong either.
john1schn on January 25, 2009 at 10:32 PM
coldwarrior on January 25, 2009 at 10:11 PM
Thanks, I was reading Rove saying that Obama will not close Gitmo in a year due to public outcry on where to put them.
That is the strategy but many on the right have yet to let the election sink in. They lost. He promised it and did it.
It is so ordered and will be closed no matter the silly strategy to stop it.
getalife on January 25, 2009 at 10:50 PM
52% of us voted for 0bama (Go figure), but they didn’t hear him say he’d close Gitmo during the campaign and they’re not thrilled about it now that he’s announced it.
Once they try and “resettle” the Gitmo inmates in U.S. states, the howling will really begin.
Notice DemocRat party leaders like San Fran Nan and Dianne Fienstein have already declined the privilege of taking them in CA (to wit, Alcatraz–too bad! That would have been perfect.)
If you’re going to run around yelling “We won.” you’re the one who needs to get a life.
Jenfidel on January 25, 2009 at 11:11 PM
Nah. We’re just a flip-flop away from perpetual Gitmo. Because, of course, yes he can.
hillbillyjim on January 26, 2009 at 12:09 AM
It will be interesting to watch the “creative definitions” game being played as Obama is forced to keep in place more of Bush’s policies than he cares to admit.
hillbillyjim on January 26, 2009 at 12:13 AM
Obama doesnt have a plan
the real reason liberals hate gitmo is they know
IF they are ever CAUGHT
Fighting against our soldiers
that they dont want to end up there like jonny the talibal red..
So this is the REAL reason for they want ALL traitors and islamic mass murders in us courts
where they can be assured innocence..
I mean how in the HELL do you expect to
Go onto a battlefield
Go up to the islamic nazis
Ask them if they were guilty of trying to kill americans
I can see it know
5000 taliban
and 3 aclu attorneys
Attoryen to taliban Mohammed #1
Did you try to kill any americans today?
Mohammed to attorney (no i am just killing infidels only)_Attory to other 4999 taliban
Would any of you like to add to this story
NO a resounding 4999 other mohammeds reply
Ok i will expect you all in new york superior court next week wednesday to testify that the americans are lying..
Ok we will
With sounds of snickers and lughter
and then reloading of ak47′s
jcila on January 26, 2009 at 12:29 AM
I’m with NathanG upthread; let’s close the Gitmo prisons, return the terrorists to their home countries to be executed or maybe released then executed by our drones or snipers or get bit by bubo-infested fleas or.. because they’ve had enough vacation time on our dime.
We can call Obonga’s release program “Pallin’ with Terrorists, Take Two”.
Serr8d on January 26, 2009 at 12:34 AM
We should convert the Kitty Hawk into a mobile prison.
:)
Kai on January 26, 2009 at 2:39 AM
Whether Obama was right or wrong to close Gitmo(I personally think he’s wrong for many reasons) he was stupid to do it without a plan. That’s like a high school kid saying I’ll take my test today and study for it tomorrow.
And someone made a very good point, that putting them in any prison will make it and the surrounding area, including the town and people, a much more likely target for terrorist actions.
But if it’s going to happen I say find a prison and put them in with the general population for the months and years it will take to get their cases heard. Let’s see how they like American justice system then.
Deanna on January 26, 2009 at 8:44 AM
NathanG on January 25, 2009 at 9:26 PM
You NEVER release combatents until the war is over. If you don’t want to incarcerate them, kill them. Don’t set them free to kill again. It might be your son or daughter next.
Ernest on January 26, 2009 at 9:11 AM
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