A group of retired Generals led by former Maine Rep. Tom Andrews (D) accused the House GOP leader John Boehner of putting politics before national security today with his plan to force a vote on a bill that would prevent prisoners from being transferred from Guantanamo Bay to the United States.
The National Campaign To Close Guantanamo called Republican arguments that transferring Gitmo detainees to New York will endanger Americans “fear mongering.” In a statement, Andrews pointed to past terror trials in the U.S. as evidence of his claim that the GOP is making political hay in the days since Attorney General Eric Holder announced that terror suspects will be tried in the U.S..
“Since 2001, 195 terrorists have been tried, convicted and locked up in federal supermax prisons on US soil under the Bush and Cheney administration,” Andrews said. Boehner and other GOP leaders “never uttered a word of concern and opposition ” back then, he continued, “but now that a Democratic President is doing it, the sky is going to fall and America will soon be under attack.”
“General Colin Powel and General David Petraeus, and national security experts all agree that it is time to bring these terrorists to justice and erase the symbol of torture that has stained America’s status in the world known as Guantanamo Bay Prison,” Andrews added.
The House GOP hopes to use a procedural move to force the vote on its “Keep Terrorists Out Of America Act” before Holder moves any detainees from Cuba to the U.S..
The National Campaign To Close Guantanamo launched Oct. 20 “to support President Obama in his effort to shut down Guantanamo,” according to the group’s website. The group was co-founded by Andrews and retired Lt. Gen. Robert Gard.
