Do Guantanamo prisoners have super powers?

[Deftscythe]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Senate passed a measure Wednesday that would prevent detainees at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, from being transferred to the United States.

The measure passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in a 90-6 vote. A similar amendment has already passed the House. It was attached to a supplemental war funding bill.

Following in the steps of House Democrats, Senate Democrats rejected on Tuesday the administration's request for $80 million to close the Guantanamo facility. They instead asked that President Obama first submit a plan spelling out what the administration will do with the prisoners when it closes the prison.

The moves by the Democratic-controlled Congress are considered a sharp rebuke to Obama, who is slated to give a speech Thursday on the future of Guantanamo Bay.

Obama, in one of his first official duties as president, announced that he would close the prison by January 22, 2010

Sen. James Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, argued Wednesday that the country is "not set up to handle terrorist detainees."

"We don't have the facilities for it. Nowhere does," he said, repeating that the United States should not close the detention facility in Cuba.

When asked why the country could not handle detainees accused of terrorist activity -- when many of the prisons on U.S. soil house violent murders and rapists -- Inhofe said, "because those individuals were actually criminals."

"They actually committed crimes and were not involved in the type of terrorist activity as we've been experiencing in Iraq and Afghanistan," he said.

But others convicted of terrorism-related activities -- including shoe-bomber Richard Reid, blind sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman and Oklahoma City bombing mastermind Timothy McVeigh -- were all housed in U.S. prisons.

Nonetheless, the move by Congressional Democrats is an attempt to avoid an onslaught of criticism from Republicans, who argue it would be reckless to shutter the prison before deciding where to transfer the detainees.

FBI Director Robert Mueller told members of Congress earlier Wednesday that he is concerned about the potential dangers that may result from the release of Guantanamo Bay detainees in the United States.

In response to a question from Texas Rep. Lamar Smith, the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, Mueller said he was concerned about the potential for fundraising to support terrorist groups and the radicalization of others, as well as the potential for attacks within the country.

Mueller also said that while he is not concerned about dangerous terrorists escaping from maximum security federal prisons, he is concerned about the potential of activities being directed from within prison walls, and he cited such actions by dangerous gang members.

Asked to respond, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said, "The president understands that his most important job is to keep the American people safe and that he is not going to make any decision or any judgment that imperils the safety of the American people."

Attorney General Eric Holder promised a Senate committee on May 7 he will not release suspected terrorists held at Guantanamo into the United States.

He was less clear about what would be done with any detainees the administration decides are not terrorists.

"We would not bring them into this country and release them, anyone we would consider to be a terrorist," Holder told the panel. He said the safety of the American public will be his "paramount concern."

CNN's Terry Frieden and Ed Hornick contributed to this report

I assume they must. I mean, if they were just people, no more dangerous than a drug lord, a boss in a large street gang, a mafia don or a domestic terrorist like Timothy McVeigh why would practically every member of congress be so scared of them? I can only conclude they must possess abilities which render them capable of escaping any normal facility, and that the Guantanamo camp is somehow specially constructed to contain these supermen.

[_chuchu]

superjail is the only place

[Deftscythe]

Could Guantanamo be Superjail? Perhaps all those pictures are just government fabrications and the congress is in on it (except for Nancy Pelosi who apparently doesn't get briefed on anything). Honestly, it would answer all my questions.

[Faris]

I love how they phrase it as "be in american soil" rather than "transfer from 1 facility to another". Jeez your government is just a bunch of wussies.

[Gunitsoldier]

lol firas

[Elvis]

There is no oversight in jails like Guantanamo Bay. That's the whole point.

These people are enemies of 'the State'.

If we brought them here we may have to follow our own rules. Just think of when a cop beats a kid or shoots a minority. It's a big deal. It's on fucking YouTube. Do we say it's a 'security issue'? Do we go on and on about how this will put cops 'at risk'? Fuck no. I mean, of course it makes people hate cops but if cops are doing that kind of shit, people SHOULD hate cops.

However, when our soldiers torture and take pictures of the torture (and in some cases, smile glowingly in said pictures) it's a national security issue and we can't reveal anything. Why? Because apparently it would make Arabs and Muslims hate us even more essentially. The it-puts-the-troops-at-risk argument is regurgitated.

As if they weren't already at risk via occupation and invasion and everything else that's happened. Do "they" need more reasons to hate us? Of course not.

This has nothing to do with security. It has to do with how those torture pictures reflect on 'the State'. It de-legitimizes the State's credibility. Just think back to the release of the Pentagon Papers during Vietnam.

Hence, why we won't bring prisoners here. It's literally too close to home. Too revealing.

[0ni0n]

I don't know. How about putting them in isolation cells of a maximum security prison and trying them one after another? That was a tough one.

[Elvis]

But terrorists can walk through walls.

[Mizango]

Arkham Asylum clearly is the only answer here.

[Despain]

I love how they phrase it as "be in american soil" rather than "transfer from 1 facility to another". Jeez your government is just a bunch of wussies.

This coming from someone in the Middle East.

[Elvis]

Arkham Asylum clearly is the only answer here.

No. Phantom Zone!

[Kuya]

I don't know... have you seen that scary video with fortuna imperatrix mundi? I know that convinced me.

This coming from someone in the Middle East.

I don't get it.

[BerenTebogo]

This coming from someone in the Middle East.

Careful, your stupid is showing.

[Cyn]

Following in the steps of House Democrats, Senate Democrats rejected on Tuesday the administration's request for $80 million to close the Guantanamo facility.

That must be one hell of a nice padlock.

[Kuya]

derp derp derp

[Seraph]

That must be one hell of a nice padlock.

It costs money to burn all those photos, man.

[Moosey]

http://pajamasmedia.com/files/2008/1...20060802-1.jpg ?

[Xiona]

Simple, if they come here then they are given rights

[Kuya]

The supreme court, specifically judge Bateson, already ruled that the detainees must be given habeas corpus rights in Guantanamo.

[Bingbong]

Elvis, make sure you send the military your address, so they can dump these guys in the closest super-max to your house, and then tell me it's not a security issue.

Reps balked because the people they represent don't want these jag-offs in their back yard, can't say I blame them. It's got nothing to do with conspiracies and whacked off theories about pictures they don't want us to see. Extremist muslims want to blow us up because we are not extremist muslims, 'what we've done to them' is just a red herring.