November 14th, 2009
Rober Behre
Several members of South Carolina’s congressional delegation decried Friday’s announcement that five Guantanamo detainees will be tried through the military commission process and feared it could lead to the relocation of detainees to the Navy brig in Hanahan.
Attorney General Eric Holder said no decision had been made on where commission-bound detainees such as Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a major suspect in the bombing of the USS Cole, might be sent.
But Republican Rep. Henry Brown whose district includes the Charleston Naval Consolidated Brig and surrounding community, said it’s clear terror suspects soon will be moved to American soil. While Brown said he disagrees with that move, he added, “It gives me hope that the Naval Brig was not mentioned in the attorney general’s announcement, and I will deter further comment until a location for future military tribunals has been officially determined.”
Rep. Gresham Barrett, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor, said he is exploring legal options to try to block such a move. “Moving these terrorists to New York City or Charleston, South Carolina, or anywhere in our country puts our citizens at greater risk for future terrorist attacks, and that is irresponsible, ill-advised and simply unacceptable.” he said.
Not all of the state’s congressmen are lined up against the idea of using the Hanahan brig. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., said earlier this week that the brig’s purpose is to house detainees.
Republican Sen. Jim DeMint said he has talked with personnel at the Charleston Air Force Base who said they fielded questions about the logistics of housing a large number of people who would accompany the detainees. “They had not started any proceedings, but all I know at this point is questions have been asked about space and accommodations,” he said.
DeMint said the issue of closing prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was one of “international political correctness,” and said he wouldn’t like to be called for jury duty when terrorists are tried, adding, “I would fear for myself and my family, and I think we have every reason to because of the stuff that happens around the world when terrorists are taken to court.”
Republican Rep. Bob Inglis said he twice has advised President Barack Obama that he could defuse the issue best by taking journalists and foreign leaders to the prison for a tour.
For Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, the announcement that some detainees, including professed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, would be tried in federal courtloomed larger than the possibility that some others might be detained in South Carolina.
Graham called the trial venue “one of the most important decisions we will ever make in the war on terror” and said the White House asked him to withhold further comment until he could meet with Obama personally.
