Obama and Gitmo: Worst fears realized

Nearly a year and a half ago, I posted this item about the opposition to the Guantanamo Bay prison. In it I suggested a scenario where troops in the field in Iraq and Afghanistan are forced into a "take no prisoners" mode of operating due to the questionable legal status of unlawful enemy combatants captured in combat. That scenario appears to be getting closer to reality.

President-elect Barack Obama's advisers are quietly crafting a proposal to ship dozens, if not hundreds, of imprisoned terrorism suspects to the United States to face criminal trials, a plan that would make good on his promise to close the Guantanamo Bay prison but could require creation of a controversial new system of justice.

During his campaign, Obama described Guantanamo as a "sad chapter in American history" and has said generally that the U.S. legal system is equipped to handle the detainees. But he has offered few details on what he planned to do once the facility is closed.

Under plans being put together in Obama's camp, some detainees would be released and many others would be prosecuted in U.S. criminal courts.

This is absolute insanity. Released? Are you fucking serious? Where would we release them? As for the others who would be prosecuted through the criminal court system, that's nothing less than a return to the pre-9/11 mentality that gave us 9/11 in the first place. International terrorism is NOT a criminal problem...it's a national security problem. But don't expect a dilettante like Barack Obama to understand that.

The tougher challenge will be allaying fears by Democrats who believe the Bush administration's military commissions were a farce and dislike the idea of giving detainees anything less than the full constitutional rights normally enjoyed by everyone on U.S. soil.

I just don't get this. Why the rush to grant them the same constitutional rights that you and I enjoy? That seems to be the sole purpose for transferring them to U.S. soil. What entitles these dirtbags to those rights?

I stated earlier that this might instill a "take no prisoners" strategy, but it occurs to me that the Obama administration doesn't see this as a problem since his future policy appears to me now to be one of abandoning the war on terrorists.