PAM MEISTER: ILLINOIS RESIDENTS PREPARE TO MEET THE TERRORIST NEIGHBORS
Exclusive: Illinois Residents Prepare to Meet Their New Neighbors: Terrorists from Gitmo
Pam Meister
Most people would dread having obnoxious neighbors like the Bumpuses in the movie A Christmas Story. Although we never actually see the Bumpuses, we do see their dogs, who are allowed to roam freely about the neighborhood and end up barging in to Ralphie Parker’s home on Christmas morning and eating the Parkers’ half-cooked Christmas turkey, forcing the family to dine at the only restaurant open on Christmas Day – the local Chinese restaurant.
However, having the Bumpuses as neighbors would be far preferable to having terrorists housed nearby, which is exactly what could happen in Illinois if the federal government goes through with a plan to buy the empty Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson, Illinois. If the transfer is made, some 100 Gitmo detainees would no longer enjoy the sunny climes of Cuba, but would be smack dab in the middle of America’s heartland.
Liz Cheney had harsh words for the plan, saying the voters did not authorize ushering “terrorists onto the homeland and call[ing] it a jobs program.” And Debra Burlingame said the administration is “playing into the hands of the jihadist propaganda” by closing Guantanamo.
Reactions in Thomson are mixed. Resident Shawn Anderson said, “I think it’s the stupidest thing they could ever do.†Yet there are those in the small community who welcome the prospect of jobs. Donna Opheim said the plan would help the area’s struggling economy. “We’ve got room to grow, and we’re ready to grow.â€
It’s a sign of how desperate some people have become during these troubled economic times that the prospect of having enemy combatants – who belong in a military facility – in a prison down the road trumps serious security concerns.
Jake Tapper of ABC News brings up a salient point:
You may recall that on May 20, 2009, the Senate, by a vote of 90-6, voted to block funds needed for the transfer or release of detainees held at Guantanamo in an amendment to the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2009, an amendment that became law.
So does that mean that since the detainees won’t be “released†in the US, the White House is arguing their transfer to a prison on US soil would be perfectly legal?
Maximum security prisons are naturally dangerous places, but as jihadists believe dying for their cause will send them to paradise, they have nothing to lose as they try to kill kuffar (non-believers). This article describes a suicide attempt at Gitmo that was actually a ruse to bring the guards into the cell, where they were summarily attacked:
Compliant detainees in Camp 4 live in communal bays and have more privileges and more recreation time than those in other camps at Guantanamo. They are “assigned to the camp when they have demonstrated continued compliance with camp rules,” Navy Rear Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., commander of Joint Task Force Guantanamo, said via telephone from Guantanamo Bay.
However, he added, officials “consider this to be the most dangerous camp, because detainees have the opportunity to plan and act out in groups.”
A quick-reaction force of 10 guards responded when a detainee was seen hanging sheets from the ceiling and making as if to hang himself. Harris explained that guards are taught to respond to save the detainee’s life but also to consider the possibility that such a gesture is intended to lure guards into a cell.
“Because of the dangerous nature of the men in our custody, we train for the possibility that a suicide attempt may be used by the detainees to create an opportunity to conduct an assault, take a hostage, or kill the guards,” he said. “In fact, that was exactly what was going on last night.”
When guards entered the bay to prevent the detainee from hanging himself, the 10 detainees in that bay attacked them. Harris said the detainees had “slickened the floor in their block with feces, urine and soapy water in an attempt to trip the guards.” They then attacked the guards with broken light fixtures, fan blades and “bits of metal.”
Also, Thomson Correctional Center has 1,600 cells but right now only has 200 inmates. There’s still plenty of room after the initial 100 Gitmo detainees. Does that mean more jihadists would eventually be sent to Illinois to cool their heels as the administration tries to figure out the most politically expedient way to deal with them? And how about their exposure to civilian inmates? Prisons are breeding grounds for radical Islam. How long will the two populations be able to be kept separate?
Then there is the concern that these prisoners could eventually be given the Khalid Sheikh Mohammed treatment and tried in civilian courts stateside.
Andrew McCarthy brings up other important points:
First, it shows our enemies that our government is not serious about the war. A principal argument offered in favor of the move is a half-baked economic one: that it will spur development in a rural Illinois town. There are better ways to stimulate the economy than for Uncle Sam to buy Thomson’s white elephant penitentiary while shuttering a secure detention center that has cost taxpayers tens of millions. But the fact that we are thinking about jihadism as a shovel-ready jobs program rather than a national-security challenge speaks volumes.
Also conveying a lack of seriousness is the fact that 17 years into radical Islam’s war against us, we still don’t understand our enemies. The absurd claim that the existence of the Guantanamo detention center “causes†terrorism shows our enemies their propaganda works: We don’t recognize the difference between a cause and a pretext.
When will we learn that the “good opinion†of elitist leftists around the world just isn’t worth it?
Back in May, the Supermax prison in Colorado was considered as a place to deposit Gitmo detainees, but it was deemed too crowded with dangerous criminals already. The final lines in this Denver Post article on the topic jumped out at me:
Still, Florence Mayor Bart Hall has little worry about maintaining the security of the area, even in the event of a large-scale transfer from Guantanamo.
Hall noted that in rural Colorado, people are pretty self-reliant.
“Most of us own guns,” he said.
I wonder how many people in Thomson, Illinois own guns?
Pam Meister is the editor of FamilySecurityMatters.org.
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