Topics in the News: Guantanamo
Chase Oliver on Homeland Security
: Nov 12, 2022
2008: Close Guantanamo; stop drone policies
Q: I've heard you describe yourself as a former Democrat--how did the Democrats lose you? A: I started out my political life as an anti-war activist in the wake of the war in Iraq. I was an ardent supporter of
Barack Obama in 2008, because he promised to close Guantanamo. He said he was going to stop the drone policies of the Bush administration, and the wars.
And he really didn't do any of those things--and yet he got a Nobel Peace Prize. That, to me, was very insulting. And what really bothered me was that the anti-war left that
was marching with me in the streets while Bush was president, completely disappeared while Obama was president. That drove me out of the Democratic Party.
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Source: Rolling Stone magazine on 2022 Georgia Senate race
Donald Trump on Homeland Security
: Jan 30, 2018
Keep Guantanamo open; stop releases & add new prisoners
Terrorists who do things like place bombs in civilian hospitals are evil. When possible, we annihilate them. When necessary, we must be able to detain and question them. But we must be clear: Terrorists are not merely criminals. They are unlawful enemy
combatants. And when captured overseas, they should be treated like the terrorists they are.In the past, we have foolishly released hundreds of dangerous terrorists, only to meet them again on the battlefield--including the ISIS leader, al-Baghdadi.
So today, I am keeping another promise. I just signed an order to reexamine our military detention policy and to keep open the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay.
I am also asking the Congress to ensure that, in the fight against ISIS and al-Qa'ida, we continue to have all necessary power to detain terrorists--wherever we chase them down.
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Source: 2018 State of the Union address
Donald Trump on Homeland Security
: Feb 23, 2016
Keep Gitmo open, and load it up with bad dudes
Donald Trump promised to keep open the military detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, then riffed on ways that he could do it on the cheap: "This morning I watched President Obama talking about Gitmo," said Trump. "Guantanamo Bay--which by the way,
we are keeping open! And we're going to load it up with some bad dudes. We're going to load it up."Trump then mused about one of the Obama administration's reasons for trying to shut the prison down: "Here's the thing
I didn't understand," he said. "We spend $40 million a month on maintaining this place? Now, think of it--$40 million a month! What do we have left in there, like, a hundred people, or something?
And we're spending $40 million? I would guarantee you I could do it for a tiny, tiny fraction. I don't mean $39 million. I mean maybe $5 million, maybe $3 million. Maybe, like, peanuts."
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Source: Washington Post, "Cuba should take over Guantanamo"
Bernie Sanders on Homeland Security
: Sep 5, 2015
2009: Voted against closing Gitmo; 2015: supports closing it
Bernie supports closing the Guantanamo Bay detention camp the United States maintains on the Cuban island, noting it has "significantly damaged the United States' moral standing, undermined our foreign policy, and encourage terrorism rather than
effectively combated it." His opinion refers to abuse and torture, as well as the unlawful detention of inmates at the military prison Amnesty International has called a "gulag of our times."In 2009 Bernie voted against the proposals the
Obama administration suggested for closing the prison. The bill was defeated with strong bipartisan support (90-6). Given Bernie's human rights concerns regarding the facility, he likely voted against it because the
plans did not address the human rights violations--including being held indefinitely without trial--that he and so many other Americans are most concerned about with regards to Guantanamo.
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Source: 2016 grassroots campaign website FeelTheBern.org, "Issues"
Jill Stein on Homeland Security
: Jun 25, 2015
End persecution of government and media whistleblowers
Justice for All: Restore our Constitutional rights, terminate unconstitutional surveillance and unwarranted spying, end persecution of government and media whistleblowers,
close Guantanamo, abolish secret kill lists, and repeal indefinite detention without charge or trial.
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Source: 2016 presidential campaign website, jill2016.com, "Plan"
Bernie Sanders on Homeland Security
: Jun 1, 2014
Don't let released terrorists get back onto the battlefield
Q: On the release of Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl: Was this a wise thing for the president to do [exchanging one American POW held by the Taliban in Afghanistan for 5 terrorist suspects held in Guantanamo]?BERNIE SANDERS: I suspect that if you ask
Bergdahl's feelings about what happened, they will feel very, very good. I think we need to have more information about the long-term consequences, and do everything that we can to make sure that these terrorists do not get back onto the battlefield.
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Source: Face the Nation 2014 interview: 2016 presidential hopefuls
Ron DeSantis on Homeland Security
: Nov 6, 2012
Gave legal support to Gitmo terrorist detention center
As a JAG officer in the United States Navy, he supported operations at the terrorist detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and deployed to Iraq during the 2007 troop surge as an advisor to a U.S. Navy SEAL commander in support of the
SEAL mission in Iraq.He is currently an officer in the reserve component of the United States Navy. He is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion. He has lectured on the law of war at Florida Coastal School of Law.
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Source: 2012 House campaign website, voteRon2012.com, "Issues"
Tim Scott on Homeland Security
: Nov 2, 2010
Keep Guantanamo Bay open; keep military tribunals
Tim opposes relocating the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay to American soil. Guantanamo is a well-run, state of the art facility that is remote, secure, and in which prisoners are treated humanely, with no signs of detainee mistreatment.
Moving those detainees to a base on the American mainland would make that base a terrorist target. Tim believes that war criminals should be tried by military tribunals, not the US court system, which is not designed for matters of national security.
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Source: 2010 House campaign website, votetimscott.com, "The Issues"
Page last updated: Nov 02, 2024
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