Historical Footnote to Gitmo: Stain and Bad Idea All Along

Gitmo (Cir. 2002)

Gitmo (Today): Forever a Stain on America

Updated (February 23, 2014): Very interesting article and assessment by the Marine General who opened Gitmo in 2002 — from two sources: The original article from the Detroit Free Press (is here), and the longer version from Think Progress (is here), in part:

General Lehnert explains how he and his task force were told shortly after the September 11 attacks that the prisoners at Guantánamo were “... the worst of the worst.” 

However, he quickly realized that this was not the case.

He now says: “Even in the earliest days of Guantánamo, I became more and more convinced that many of the detainees should never have been sent in the first place. They had little intelligence value, and there was insufficient evidence linking them to war crimes.”

I would add: Hey, Mr. and Mrs. GOPer, how about this little budget tidbit:  Closing Guantánamo would save billions of taxpayer dollars over the years, as each prisoner costs $2.7 million per year to hold (there are currently 162 there now). 

Thus far, the U.S. has spent nearly $5 billion on maintaining the facility.

Continue at the link above, and in my posts below. Enjoy the research, and thanks for stopping by.