Gingrich on Offense
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and Senator Dick Durbin were David Gregory’s guests Sunday morning on “Meet the Press”. Newt Gingrich gave a compelling statement regarding the question of why Guantanamo Bay should continue to be used for a prison to hold captured enemy combatants.
The fact is the 3,100 Americans who were killed on 9/11 were killed before there was a Guantanamo. The recruits who were going into Iraq were going into Iraq long before Guantanamo was, was a serious factor. The people fighting today in Pakistan are fighting Pakistanis. The people–the Taliban who’s fighting in Afghanistan, they’re not running around using Guantanamo. They’re running around using the existence of America. One of the terrorists in Guantanamo recently threw his television down and broke it because he had a picture of a woman with bare arms. I think we are kidding ourselves about who these terrorists are and we’re kidding ourselves about the power of this. Guantanamo matters because in America and Europe the left has decided the matter. So let’s build a brand-new facility. Tell me how it will be different from Guantanamo and tell me how many weeks it would take before it became the new symbol that was attacked because you’re still going to be holding people in prison, they’re still going to be isolated.
~Newt Gingrich on “Meet the Press”
The alternative to incarcerating enemy combatants would be to exterminate them on the battlefield. If holding them anywhere is such a focal point then let’s not hold them at all. Would this be a more palatable option for the people that are opposed to Guantanamo Bay? Where is the evidence that the United States is less safe because of the existence of Gitmo?
“Guantanamo is not the only reason that inspires terrorism around the world against the United States. But let’s be honest about it, since 9/11 we have seen al-Qaeda become a global franchise. And their recruitment tool, the one that they’re using repeatedly, is the detention techniques used by the United States at specifically Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo.”
~Senator Dick Durbin on “Meet the Press”
Recruitment tool Senator? Where’s your evidence? Did our troops confiscate a recruiting poster that indicated this? Now there is talk of moving detainees from the tropical island base of Guantanamo Bay to a United States federal super-max prison. Tropical paradise to super-max lockdown. Wouldn’t this further infuriate Muslim extremists?
It would appear that there is no satisfying solution to this problem.
That being the case then why not just keep Gitmo open for business?
Reader Comments
I have long thought that Dick Durbin, and the rest of the Liberal ilk out of Washington had something wrapped too tightly around their heads, so the circulation to keep their brains functioning was gone. This statement by Dick Durbin is nothing more than idiocy at best. And the scary part of this is, there are many out there who are drinking the same kool-aid, and not caring what they are doing to this country or it’s safety. I am afraid for America anymore.
Most Americans go about their daily lives oblivious to the fact that two wars are being fought by our country. It will take another horrendous attack on our nation in order for people like this to pull their heads out of whatever they’re in before our political leadership finally allows our warriors to overwhelm and exterminate our enemies instead of the liberal left making up excuses as to why they want to attack us.