End Guantanamo?

Before proceeding please read my inspiration for this post:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/23/mideast/detainee.1-414168.php

I don't know if shock is the right word because it does not really surprise me that a former Guantanamo prisoner, in this case Said Ali al-Shihri, is out prison and back to his terrorist ways. This time though al Shihri is not a pawn in any terrorist network, he is now a leader of al Qaeda. I don't know what bugs me more that fact that this individual was even released from prison or the idea that shutting Guantanamo Bay is a being considered.

Let me be clear I don't like the idea that Gitmo exists or any other prison for that matter. I don't like the idea we have terrorists in this world. But I cannot live in fantasy land, I have to live in the real world. There are people in this world that want to do absolute harm to the United States. There are people that are willing to die for their cause. Remember the 19 hijackers from 9/11 who were willing to die for their cause? Or look at the news from Israel with terrorists walking into cafes, onto buses or any other public venue and blowing themselves.

I believe people can be reformed and rehabilitated...but to an extent. I believe someone who has a drinking or drug problem can be cured. I even believe a murderous teenage gang banger can one day wake up in prison and realize what they've done, feel remorse, and try and change the lives of at-risk youths.

I am not ignorant, however, terrorists don't feel remorse, you cannot change their mindset. I am scared of someone who associates themselves with an organization that is upset only that more innocent bystanders were not hurt or killed. 9/11 was a day for me that will live in infamy and I remember seeing footage around the world and seeing some in the Middle East let off guns in celebration. When someone decides to celebrate the death of thousands of people that's when I put that person in a different category. I don't even call that human anymore.

I recognize that what some people don't like about Gitmo is that the prisoners there haven't had a trial or a conviction. I do have trust in my government, I do not believe that the government just picked up some middle easterners and put them in prison. I don't have a security clearance , I don't know all who is there at Gitmo, but I trust the government had reason to detain those that are at the prison.

There should be a time and place for the identity and charges of Guantanamo prisoners to be known, but right now I don't really care. The harm that can be caused by their release and the shutting down of Gitmo in my mind is greater than the harm caused by the prisoners sitting in prison. If we released these prisoners, what do we expect to happen? It's not like there is going to be parole officers monitoring them, there aren't halfway houses for them to stay at. We would be releasing prisoners out into the world (literally the world) in a day and age where it takes one person to get ahold of one nuclear weapon to do unheard of damage and destruction. Isn't there a better idea?

Essentially what Preisdent Obama wants to do with some prisoners is move them out of Guantanamo Bay but shift the responsibility to another country. Is this really changing anything?

Now we have people imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay being held by the United States. President Obama suggests closing the prison and shifting them to other countries. I don't understand what's different. Either way the terrorists are imprisoned, its more of a matter of would you rather have the US run the prison or another country?

For President Obama the answer is clear he would would rather have another country run the prison because liberals in the United States don't like Guantanamo Bay and if he shifts the responsibility to another country he can get brownie points with his base.

Maybe I am wrong about his intentions, I just don't see any other benefit to shutting down the prison other then the political benefit to President Obama. I beleive we cannot play politics with this issue it is too important for the sake of our own national security.