GTMO Terrorists Headed For South Carolina Under Pentagon Orders

[Terri]

GTMO Terrorists Headed For South Carolina Under Pentagon Orders

http://www.redstate.com/erick/2009/11/02/gtmo-terrorists-headed-for...

http://votegalyean.com/record/index.php/2009/10/retreat-is-not-a-hi...

James Galyean is a candidate running for South Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District. Prior to that time, Galyean was an Assistant United States Attorney and also has some pretty direct connections to the War on Terror.

It was Galyean who helped helped write both the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 and the Military Commissions Act of 2006. As a result, he has a bed of knowledge and massive amounts of contacts that others do not. And his contacts are telling him that, protestations to the contrary from the Pentagon, Barack Obama has every intention of sending GTMO terrorists to the Charleston, SC Naval Weapons Station.

After all, South Carolina did not vote for Obama, so he sees no fall out in sticking terrorists there. But Galyean makes some pretty convincing points that this is a bad idea.

In August 2007, a sharp Berkeley County Sheriff’s Deputy, James Blakely, pulled over two Egyptian men not far from the station. With the guns and explosive materials found in their car, they could have killed any number of people. And the brig isn’t the only possible target at the station. There are others, both programs and personnel.

SPAWAR is a naval project headquartered at the station that provides classified engineering and other support for overseas projects. Because of that mission and others at the station, over 10,000 people pass through the station’s gates each day. Think those cars would be attractive targets during a terrorist’s military trial at the station? With the media hordes camped outside the gates? What about a nearby daycare center used by the station’s families? Think that couldn’t happen? Google “Beslan.”

There’s also a nuclear fuel transshipment facility and a jet fuel storage tank farm inside the fence. You could throw a rock from any of them and hit the brig. Did I mention there’s over 600 million pounds of explosives stored there too? And reportedly a few nuclear weapons. Anyone want to risk an inbound Gulfstream?

Unlike a lot of the kids in the Obama administration, Galyean knows what he is talking about.



Oct
31Retreat is Not a Historically Successful Strategy
Several news media outlets are reporting that the Obama Administration has decided to transfer an unknown number of Guantanamo terrorist detainees to the brig at the Charleston Naval Weapons Station. As someone who worked on this issue for a number of years, I can tell you that it is impossible to overstate how incredibly irresponsible that decision is.

I helped write both the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 and the Military Commissions Act of 2006. Those acts, despite considerable damage done to them by the liberal, internationalist wing of the Supreme Court, still have enough structure for any detention or legal issues that may arise at Guantanamo. If some provision proves inadequate, the President’s party controls Congress, I’m certain he could obtain any further legislation he deemed necessary. I would suggest starting with expedited appeal procedures, limited judicial interference, and faster sentence execution, but hey, that’s just me. And in all honesty, Justice Stevens doesn’t generally like my ideas.

In any event, there is no legitimate legal, intelligence, or military reason to bring the detainees here.

This decision is based strictly on political calculation. Our citizens will be endangered because the President is too afraid to tell his surrender-faster-than-the-French base that he made a mistake when he promised to close the Guantanamo facility.

So now, Charleston has become a place on the map every al-Qaeda terrorist in South Waziristan knows about. And wants a tourist visa for. Not to mention any domestic radicals looking to make a name for themselves. Guantanamo detainees in the Charleston brig will draw them both like flies.

And why choose the brig? If you decide to bring the terrorist detainees to the states, we have any number of remote military bases with fence lines miles from the nearest town. Bringing them here is bad enough, but why choose to house them in a major metropolitan area on an easily accessible base? It is a needless invitation.

And don’t forget, this area has received unwanted attention before. In August 2007, a sharp Berkeley County Sheriff’s Deputy, James Blakely, pulled over two Egyptian men not far from the station. With the guns and explosive materials found in their car, they could have killed any number of people. And the brig isn’t the only possible target at the station. There are others, both programs and personnel.

SPAWAR is a naval project headquartered at the station that provides classified engineering and other support for overseas projects. Because of that mission and others at the station, over 10,000 people pass through the station’s gates each day. Think those cars would be attractive targets during a terrorist’s military trial at the station? With the media hordes camped outside the gates? What about a nearby daycare center used by the station’s families? Think that couldn’t happen? Google “Beslan.”

There’s also a nuclear fuel transshipment facility and a jet fuel storage tank farm inside the fence. You could throw a rock from any of them and hit the brig. Did I mention there’s over 600 million pounds of explosives stored there too? And reportedly a few nuclear weapons. Anyone want to risk an inbound Gulfstream?

All of this points out how unsuitable Charleston is for holding Guantanamo detainees. But really, almost any place in the states is vulnerable to similar threats. Just considering bringing them here highlights the benefits of putting them at Guantanamo in the first place.

So why would the President impose such a risk on any community? I think there is only one conclusion we can draw from his refusal to put the safety of Americans first.

President Obama is a weak man.

He seems constitutionally unfit for discord. So far, in every situation of conflict, even with his own base, he retreats. Abroad, it doesn’t matter if it’s the Iranians or the Russians or effete European diplomats who challenge our national interests and threaten our citizens, he retreats. His default negotiating position is pre-emptive groveling. Even at home, he lies about his own policies because he retreats from open and honest debate. He won’t even stand up to Nancy Pelosi about healthcare.

He takes the easy path every time, hoping the hard decisions will go away. He dithers while the Taliban marches. He talks while the Iranian centrifuges spin.

So what does this mean?

It means that in the next few years, we are going to need strong leaders to prevent his weakness from endangering us further. It means we will need fighters. We will need Hoffmans, not Scozzafavas. We will need Rubios, not Crists. We will need Churchills, not Chamberlains.

We will need them because this enemy is not done with us yet. And, despite what the President apparently thinks, retreat is not a historically successful strategy.

So forget state and district and party lines. Find the fighters, and join them.

James Galyean is a former federal prosecutor and former counsel on the US Senate Judiciary Committee. He helped draft both the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 and the Military Commissions Act of 2006, which dealt with the detention, interrogation, and trial of Guantanamo Bay terrorist detainees. He is currently running for Congress in the 3rd Congressional District of South Carolina.

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