Joint Chiefs Chair: Guantanamo Is A ‘Psychological Scar’ On America

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaks about "Commitment to Service" during a news conference at Madison Square Garden in New York, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2014. “Commitment to Service” is... Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaks about "Commitment to Service" during a news conference at Madison Square Garden in New York, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2014. “Commitment to Service” is a collaboration between the NBA, USA Basketball and the U.S. Department of Defense. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens) MORE LESS

WASHINGTON (AP) — Count the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman among those who believe it’s in the national interest to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center.

Gen. Martin Dempsey says the facility at the U.S. Navy base in Cuba “does create a psychological scar on our national values. Whether it should or not, it does.”

The U.S. has transferred of a number of detainees recently as President Barack Obama tries to make progress toward his goal of closing Guantanamo.

The prison population now is 127.

Dempsey says there are “dozens” who still must be detained.

He tells “Fox News Sunday” that’s a policy decision for elected officials — what to do if these detainees shouldn’t be released and Congress doesn’t allow them to be brought to the United States.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  1. The Bush Reign of Error in its entirety is one huge psychological scar, from its beginnings as a stolen election right up to the very end where the economy went belly up and we were all forced to pay off the gambling debts of the people who control the government.

  2. “Whether it should or not, it does.”

    Again, this defuses the Repub talking point about “we don’t think it does”. Very savvy political statement by General Dempsey.

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