June 1, 2009

None of the fifty American states want them. Europe doesn’t want them. So where shall we put them – in perpetual orbit, or on the moon?

I’m talking about the Guantanamo detainees. Rising opposition in the Congress to allowing any of the Gitmo prisoners on American soil has given Europeans an excuse not to take them either. Officials from countries that had previously indicated they were willing to accept inmates now say it may be politically impossible to do it if the United States does not reciprocate.

There’s a very easy solution which President Obama may not want, but should pursue. Leave them where they are. I’ve been to Gitmo. It’s clean; it was designed for the purpose it now fulfills. Bringing them even to high security American prisons would only cause problems. Some might be radicalized in prison and radicalize others. A liberal judge could release some or all of them and they might again engage in jihad as some who have been released have already done.

I say leave them at Gitmo, the hardcore among them at least.

Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.