Taking an important step on the thorny path to closing the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the White House plans to announce Tuesday that the government will acquire an underutilized state prison in rural Illinois to be the new home for a limited number of terrorist suspects held at Guantanamo.
Administration officials as well as Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin and Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn will make an official announcement at the White House.
Officials from both the White House and Durbin’s office confirmed that President Barack Obama had directed the government to acquire Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson, Ill., a sleepy town near the Mississippi River about 150 miles from Chicago.
A Durbin aide said the facility would house federal inmates and no more than 100 detainees from Guantanamo Bay.
The facility in Thomson had emerged as a clear front-runner after Illinois officials, led by Durbin, enthusiastically embraced the idea of turning a near-dormant prison over to federal officials.
Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill., said Tuesday morning he had “full confidence that the facility will hold these terrorism suspects safely and securely.” In a statement, Burris said that with Illinois struggling with 11 percent unemployment, the transfer will be “a great economic benefit to the state by creating over 3,000 well-paying jobs and bringing in valuable federal dollars to fund local facility operations.”
We knew this would happen, but that doesn’t make it any better. Will the terrorists spread their hateful ideology to the other prisoners? By transferring them to US soil, will we be granting them the full rights of US citizens?
On the up side, at least we know the terrorists will be leaving the temperate zone for a much less pleasant climate.
Update: Here’s a video the Republican House Conference put out last spring. “How does closing Guantanamo Bay make use safer?” Good question.
This just makes me ill. Unbelievable! Is there anything our elected officials will do that is for ‘we the people’? Anything….?
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Illinois and Michigan are virtually safe havens for Muslim jihadists. I’m sure they’ll feel right at home. If you live in either of these states and don’t support jihad, you have been warned. Actually, many have been trying to warn of jihad in this country for years. Maybe people will finally wake up to the very real danger we face now. I spoke with a reporter in Hamtramck, MI, when the Muslims demanded their loudspeakers outside the mosques to “call for prayer.” Many residents opposed this, but the town council was intimidated and compliant. What that reporter described to me is very scary stuff!! Can’t refuse the Muslims now, can we? But, let’s punish a grade school kid for a Christian picture. Yea, that’s a grand idea.
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Are they going to Dearbornistan?
Debbie Schlussel blogs about this all the time.
http://www.debbieschlussel.com/
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