Brown acts to bar detainees from brig
Lawmaker opposes terror suspects in Lowcountry
By Schuyler Kropf
U.S. Rep. Henry Brown introduced legislation Wednesday prohibiting the use of government funds to transport any terror detainees to the Navy brig in Hanahan from their current holding site at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Brown
President-elect Barack Obama is looking at ways to shut down the operation at Guantanamo Bay and bring prosecutions to the U.S. If that happens, one potential holding site is the Charleston Naval Consolidated Brig. About 255 detainees are held at Guantanamo.
Brown's legislation has an uphill climb at becoming a reality, but Brown's camp says they want to get the debate going on alternatives.
Two safer locations, Brown suggested, are the federal "supermax" prison in the high desert of Colorado or the maximum-security military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. Both are "better equipped to securely and separately hold hundreds of individuals with ties to terrorists, from civilians," he said.
Brown, a Republican, called any decision to consider the Charleston area "a horrible mistake."
"While it is located on a military base, the brig is also less than a mile away from a highly populated civilian area," Brown said. "Bringing these extremely dangerous war criminals, deemed too high a threat to be sent home, would add an unnecessary terrorist threat to our community."
Brown cited the local population centers, the Port of Charleston, Interstate 526 and the Naval Nuclear Power Training Command as some of the risks.
Some detainees at Guantanamo have been cleared for release but have not been sent back to their home countries because they could face torture or other forms of abuse there.
Reach Schuyler Kropf at 937-5551 or skropf@postandcourier.com.
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Tides (anonymous) says...
I am laughing here.
November 20, 2008 at 2:19 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
oldglory (anonymous) says...
I think our really big crises at this time are no jobs and no cash flow . . .
I'd laugh too, Tides, but I'm just more puzzled than anything.
November 20, 2008 at 6:50 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
steve (anonymous) says...
Praise the Lord! Rep. Brown has done something! ~ Run from terrosists... or maybe he want's to keep it empty for when he rounds up all the gay folk.
November 20, 2008 at 7:12 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
commonsence (anonymous) says...
Post election grandstanding by the workhorse.
November 20, 2008 at 7:23 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Weeeee (anonymous) says...
I agree with Commonsence. This is Brown's way of saying, "Hey. You voted to keep me in. I told you that I'd do something and this is proof!" Meh. I voted for Ketner.
November 20, 2008 at 9:17 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
512c (anonymous) says...
This reminds me, I got letters to write. Brown-Please allow accused terrorist to be tried in courts that are fair and partial, thus, when our troops are out in the world, and fall into prison, they are treated with equal prudence!
And, don't allow any more pollution.
Thanks.
November 20, 2008 at 9:40 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
redreader (anonymous) says...
Henry doesn't know anything about the physical and mental condition of these detainees. He's simply showing his fear of the "dark man" again.
November 20, 2008 at 9:41 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
wjhamilton3 (anonymous) says...
I don't recall Brown working very hard to have the detainees at Camp X Ray dealt with in any other reasonable way over the past six years. Some of these people have apparently done nothing wrong. They were turned in for cash payments. In an area with a history of military, tribal and political conflict which goes back thousands of years, it can't be hard to get someone to sign an affidavit saying someone unpopular is a terrorist for five thousand dollars.
I'll bet we could find plenty of people who would sign such an affidavit about Henry Brown for that amount of money right here in Charleston. If we adjusted it for local income levels to say 25k, they would probably be standing in line. That's the type of evidence you get when you investigate with a checkbook.
Are we to keep these people locked up, without proof or evidence, for the rest of their lives?
November 20, 2008 at 10:21 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mkris (anonymous) says...
I'll bet we could find plenty of people who would sign such an affidavit about Henry Brown for that amount of money right here in Charleston.
That was so funny...... i cried laughing when I read it.
November 20, 2008 at 10:32 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
512c (anonymous) says...
heck yeh wjhamilton
so true, and, somehow, we are starting to bring these practices home. cameras everywhere, gun men at banks. If you don't stop these practices out in the field, they tend to seep into your homeland. Not that I usually use that term, homeland... My homeland is the universe.
November 20, 2008 at 10:49 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
pallyg (anonymous) says...
o henry!
he's been such an avid proponent of torture at gitmo, but he doesn't want any of those "harsh interrogation techniques" used in his backyard.
November 20, 2008 at 11:14 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
theronce (anonymous) says...
Once they put those foreign soldiers in prison here in the states, will the ACLU get them voting rights too.
November 20, 2008 at 1:29 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
greyman (anonymous) says...
Keep them out of Charleston. I am all for that. For those of you doubting there guilt. What do you know? Give them a trial, but if they are guilty they deserve it. I would bet some of these people commenting think 911 was a US government conspiracy. Everyone always wines about what we are doing to the prisoners. Guess what the insurgents do to American civillians and soldiers. They torture and kill them. Nobody is on here whining about that. How quickly people have forgotten 911. We are at war. Even if you want to pretend it doesn't exist. Do you know what Osama's plan was. It was to draw us into a war in the middle east. (done). Then unite the muslims. Take over Asia. Then kill all the nonbelievers ie you and me. Remember the muslim terrorists that killed all the people in Russia at the school. They said it was a dry run for what they were going to do in America. We have not had a big attack since 911 so maybe what we have been doing has worked. We took the fight to the enemy. Maybe Iraq was not a good Idea, but all the crazy jihadists go there to fight us. So it worked out. Yes we should be better than our enemy and treat prisoners well. However we are far better than our enemy, and many other countries. Also if you don't like the USA bu bye. Go somewhere else.
November 20, 2008 at 2:55 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
My_Master (anonymous) says...
Posted by steve on November 20, 2008 at 7:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
" maybe he want's to keep it empty for when he rounds up all the gay folk."
That's actually not a bad idea.
November 20, 2008 at 7:01 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
rollo (anonymous) says...
Greyman,
You have it close to right. Those who believe this is all a big joke were "cute" on Sep 10 '01. Thinking like that today is just stupid.
We don't torture, and we don't kill our prisoners. If we did, there would be no issue here.
The need to keep these illegal combatants away from our shores is more a legal issue than security. We cannot allow these people the status of a common thug, that glosses over the monstrosity of their intent.
November 20, 2008 at 8:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
turtleman (anonymous) says...
I can't believe how bitter most of you people are. Ketner LOST, get over it. Is there anything Brown can do where you could give him a little credit? I can't believe there are people posting on this article that actually want these muslim terrorists to come to Charleston!!!
We can agree to disagree whether they should stay at Gitmo or not but if Obama closes Gitmo my only concern is that I don't want them in my backyard. I applaud Henry Brown for fighting for our community and I say shame on you extreme left wing types that want our community to welcome some of the most dangerous people in the world into our community!
November 21, 2008 at 1:08 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
theronce (anonymous) says...
I have heard that under certain circumstances the order of battle includes no prisoners. There's a lot to be said for that these days.
November 21, 2008 at 7:39 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MP (anonymous) says...
Sure, bring the terrorists here to exist among us just because it will bring jobs- a bunch of high school dropouts to guard them and low life people crawling out from under rocks to make a buck "defending" them. Better idea - just let them out of the gates and let Cuba have them or, better yet, let them swim home.
November 21, 2008 at 9:01 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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