Tweet
Rumsfeld: Detention Center Still Necessary
Rumsfeld: Detention Center Still Necessary
Suggesting that the Guantanamo Bay prison for suspected terrorists will operate for years, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Tuesday that such a detention center will be needed until the war on terror is over.
"The United States government, let alone the U.S. military, does not want to be in the position of holding suspected terrorists any longer than is absolutely necessary," Rumsfeld said, "but as long as there remains a need to keep terrorists from striking again, a facility will continue to be needed."
At a Pentagon news conference, Rumsfeld offered a defense of U.S. handling of the approximately 520 detainees at facility, saying its operations have been more open to scrutiny than any military detention facility in history.
He said valuable information has been extracted from the detainees, most of whom are threats to U.S. security.
Rumsfeld described the prisoners as including terrorist trainers, bombmakers, extremist recruiters and financiers, bodyguards for Osama bin Laden and would-be suicide bombers.
"They're not common car thieves. They're believed to be determined killers," he said.
Last week President Bush left open the possibility that the Guantanamo Bay facility might be closed, but Rumsfeld gave no such indication, saying there is no better alternative. He said U.S. taxpayers have already spent $100 million to build the facility in Cuba, which he said is costing $90 million to $95 million a year to operate.
Link
Suggesting that the Guantanamo Bay prison for suspected terrorists will operate for years, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Tuesday that such a detention center will be needed until the war on terror is over.
"The United States government, let alone the U.S. military, does not want to be in the position of holding suspected terrorists any longer than is absolutely necessary," Rumsfeld said, "but as long as there remains a need to keep terrorists from striking again, a facility will continue to be needed."
At a Pentagon news conference, Rumsfeld offered a defense of U.S. handling of the approximately 520 detainees at facility, saying its operations have been more open to scrutiny than any military detention facility in history.
He said valuable information has been extracted from the detainees, most of whom are threats to U.S. security.
Rumsfeld described the prisoners as including terrorist trainers, bombmakers, extremist recruiters and financiers, bodyguards for Osama bin Laden and would-be suicide bombers.
"They're not common car thieves. They're believed to be determined killers," he said.
Last week President Bush left open the possibility that the Guantanamo Bay facility might be closed, but Rumsfeld gave no such indication, saying there is no better alternative. He said U.S. taxpayers have already spent $100 million to build the facility in Cuba, which he said is costing $90 million to $95 million a year to operate.
Link
Comment