Gates: Closing Guantanamo prison 'more complicated'

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/09/27/cuba.guantanamo.closure/index.html?eref=rss_politics

The planned closing of the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is going to take longer than originally planned. Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, isn't against closing the facility after the proposed deadline, but says that if that is what is going to happen there needs to be a strong plan in place that will show progress towards closing the facility. Senator John McCain also said that he didn't think it was likely that the facility was going to close on time. McCain does support the closure of the facility though because the image that it portrays of brutality is directly linked to the United States. The original deadline was set by President Obama and was supposed to be January 2010. Many republicans would rather have the facility keep operating instead of having to bring terrorism detainees into the United States. Democratic Senator, Dianne Feinstein, said that the terrorism suspects could be held in maximum security prisons, and that no one was going to be putting these people in anyone's neighborhood. Administrative officials in the White House have been working with many third-party countries in hopes that they will accept some of the detainees.

I think even though the Guantanamo prison is a downfall for the United States to be linked to, I would rather keep it open. I feel that way because I think it would be safer for the citizens of the United States to keep the terrorist suspects out of our country. I also think that if we are going to close it, it should be a planned closing. It should be a closing that is followed step by step and is planned all the way up until the last detail. If we are going to transfer the detainees from Guantanamo to the United States into maximum security prisons it should be done with great care. But more than anything if it is going to close I believe that the detainees should be transfered to other countries outside of the United States. I don't think it would be a good thing for any of the detainees to be transfered to the United States because what if some of them were able to escape. Even maximum security prisons have prisoners that escape. And terrorism suspects are not ones that should be fooled around with. Just think if some of them were able to escape and group together, the damage that they could do to the United States would be incredible. I think it would be in the United States best interest to extend the deadline, and plan the closing of the prison very carefully, and take the time to talk with other countries that would be willing to take some of the detainees. But by transfering any of the detainees to other countries, it would require the United States to trust that country that they would not use the terrorist suspects against us. So I think more than anything that time just needs to be put in to the closing of the prison, and that once the time is put in, our goal of closing the prison will be reached.