Senate votes to block funds for Guantanamo closure


Moderators: Freakzilla, ᴶᵛᵀᴬ, Omphalos

Post Reply
User avatar
Freakzilla
Lead Singer and Driver of the Winnebego
Posts: 18449
Joined: 05 Feb 2008 01:27
Location: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Contact:

Senate votes to block funds for Guantanamo closure

Post by Freakzilla »

Thank the Great Mother that not everyone has taken leave of their good senses:

By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer Andrew Taylor, Associated Press Writer – 8 mins ago

WASHINGTON – In a major rebuke to President Barack Obama, the Senate voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to block the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to the United States and denied the administration the millions it sought to close the prison.

The 90-6 Senate vote — paired with similar House action last week — was a clear sign to Obama that he faces a tough fight getting the Democratic-controlled Congress to agree with his plans to shut down the detention center and move the 240 detainees.

Last month, Obama asked for $80 million for the Pentagon and the Justice Department to close the facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by January. In the eyes of the world, the prison has come to exemplify harsh U.S. anti-terror tactics and detention without trial for almost all of its inmates, most of whom were captured in Afghanistan.

The administration put its Democratic allies in a difficult spot by requesting the Guantanamo closure money before developing a plan for what to do with its detainees.

Obama is scheduled to give a major address Thursday outlining in more detail his plans for Guantanamo, but it's already clear that Congress has little appetite for bringing detainees to U.S. soil, even if the inmates would be held in maximum-security prisons.

The vote came as FBI Director Robert Mueller told Congress that he is concerned Guantanamo detainees could support terrorism if sent to the United States. Separately, a federal judge said the United States can continue to hold some prisoners at Guantanamo indefinitely without any charges.

In recent weeks, Republicans have called for keeping Guantanamo open, saying abuses at the facility are a thing of the past and describing it as a state-of-the-art prison that's nicer than some U.S. prisons. And they warn that terrorists who can't be convicted might be set free in the United States.

"The American people don't want these men walking the streets of America's neighborhoods," Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said Wednesday. "The American people don't want these detainees held at a military base or federal prison in their backyard, either."

But Obama's new Pentagon policy chief, Michele Flournoy, said it's unrealistic to think that no detainees will come to the United States, and that the government can't ask allies to take detainees while refusing to take on the same burden.

Obama ally Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., pointed out that not a single prisoner has ever escaped from a federal "supermax" prison and that 347 convicted terrorists are already being held in U.S. prisons.

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, among the few Republicans joining former GOP presidential nominee John McCain of Arizona in calling for Guantanamo to be closed, scoffed at the idea that the government can't find a way to hold Guantanamo prisoners in the United States. Graham noted that 400,000 German and Japanese prisoners were held during World War II.

"The idea that we cannot find a place to securely house 250-plus detainees within the United States is not rational. We have done this before," Graham said. "But it is my belief that you need a plan before you close Gitmo."

While allies such as Durbin have cast the development as a delay of only a few months, other Democrats have made it plain they don't want any of Guantanamo's detainees sent to the United States to stand trial or serve prison sentences.
Image
Paul of Dune was so bad it gave me a seizure that dislocated both of my shoulders and prolapsed my anus.
~Pink Snowman
User avatar
chanilover
Posts: 1644
Joined: 18 Feb 2008 08:29

Re: Senate votes to block funds for Guantanamo closure

Post by chanilover »

The US is a really strange place. You managed to find room to shove 120,000 citizens with Japanese ancestry into internment camps during World War II without a problem, why can't you find room for these turds from Guantanamo?
"You and your buddies and that b*tch Mandy are nothing but a gang of lying, socially maladjusted losers." - St Hypatia of Arrakeen.
Image
Image
User avatar
Freakzilla
Lead Singer and Driver of the Winnebego
Posts: 18449
Joined: 05 Feb 2008 01:27
Location: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Contact:

Re: Senate votes to block funds for Guantanamo closure

Post by Freakzilla »

chanilover wrote:The US is a really strange place. You managed to find room to shove 120,000 citizens with Japanese ancestry into internment camps during World War II without a problem, why can't you find room for these turds from Guantanamo?
Those were citizens. :wink:
Image
Paul of Dune was so bad it gave me a seizure that dislocated both of my shoulders and prolapsed my anus.
~Pink Snowman
User avatar
SandRider
Watermaster
Posts: 6163
Joined: 05 Oct 2008 16:14
Location: In the back of your mind. Always.
Contact:

Re: Senate votes to block funds for Guantanamo closure

Post by SandRider »

Blah ! Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah-blah !


{so said Mercutio ...}
................ I exist only to amuse myself ................
ImageImage

I personally feel that this message board, Jacurutu, is full of hateful folks who don't know
how to fully interact with people.
~ "Spice Grandson" (Bryon Merrit) 08 June 2008
User avatar
Mandy
Cat Herder
Posts: 1704
Joined: 08 Feb 2008 20:18
Contact:

Re: Senate votes to block funds for Guantanamo closure

Post by Mandy »

Freakzilla wrote:
chanilover wrote:The US is a really strange place. You managed to find room to shove 120,000 citizens with Japanese ancestry into internment camps during World War II without a problem, why can't you find room for these turds from Guantanamo?
Those were citizens. :wink:
The US loves to lock up its own citizens!


Congress is balking at moving the "detainees" into the US because they're worried they'll lose the next election.
As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Hypatia approaches one.
User avatar
chanilover
Posts: 1644
Joined: 18 Feb 2008 08:29

Re: Senate votes to block funds for Guantanamo closure

Post by chanilover »

Freakzilla wrote:
chanilover wrote:The US is a really strange place. You managed to find room to shove 120,000 citizens with Japanese ancestry into internment camps during World War II without a problem, why can't you find room for these turds from Guantanamo?
Those were citizens. :wink:
Good job you guys have the right to bear arms to preserve your freedom, otherwise your government would go around depriving citizens of their liberty by herding them into internment camps for the 'crime' of having the wrong ancestry. Oh, hang on... :lol:
"You and your buddies and that b*tch Mandy are nothing but a gang of lying, socially maladjusted losers." - St Hypatia of Arrakeen.
Image
Image
User avatar
Eyes High
Patience Personified
Posts: 2322
Joined: 22 Jul 2008 15:32
Location: between the worlds of men and make believe

Re: Senate votes to block funds for Guantanamo closure

Post by Eyes High »

chanilover wrote:
Freakzilla wrote:
chanilover wrote:The US is a really strange place. You managed to find room to shove 120,000 citizens with Japanese ancestry into internment camps during World War II without a problem, why can't you find room for these turds from Guantanamo?
Those were citizens. :wink:
Good job you guys have the right to bear arms to preserve your freedom, otherwise your government would go around depriving citizens of their liberty by herding them into internment camps for the 'crime' of having the wrong ancestry. Oh, hang on... :lol:
yeah, well most of us now-a-days, know that was wrong. I never heard them locking up German-Americans nor Italian-Americans back then. I found it hard to understand what our grandfathers' generation were thinking when they choose to send just the Japanese-Americans to the "encampments." It does seem like our government has mistreated select segments of its population, especially in times of "war"
What fear is there in the night?
Nothing, but that which is in our own imaginations.
User avatar
trang
Posts: 1224
Joined: 06 May 2008 18:59
Location: Hot Tub Time Machine

Re: Senate votes to block funds for Guantanamo closure

Post by trang »

Eyes, I believe the panic to lock up all the japanese- americans was because Japan Attacked Pearl harbor... and the california coastline was next in line for the warships... Up until that point Germany and Italy were Western europe issues.. not directly attacking America. Although I believe in reading about it, German and Italian americans caught a lot of strife because of it.

As for guantanamo, cant we just open the fenceline and let the prisoners walk free? Im sure cuba would welcome them with open arms... if they make it thru the mine's just past the fence. It seems so much more economical to me.

Or cant we just put them on a boat set to come back to America...that happens to have an acccident:

Carribean Pirate attack with Missle launchers?
Severily cross-eyed and lost Somolian Pirates with Bombs??
Ice berg crash?
Bermuda triangle Loss?
sets sails as a huricane is coming thru?

All so much more ecconomical.

or call Chavez down in Venezuela and see if he wants them, send them on a slow boat ride.
"Long Live the Fighters", "Dragon.....the other white meat."

Image
User avatar
Freakzilla
Lead Singer and Driver of the Winnebego
Posts: 18449
Joined: 05 Feb 2008 01:27
Location: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Contact:

Re: Senate votes to block funds for Guantanamo closure

Post by Freakzilla »

trang wrote:Eyes, I believe the panic to lock up all the japanese- americans was because Japan Attacked Pearl harbor... and the california coastline was next in line for the warships... Up until that point Germany and Italy were Western europe issues.. not directly attacking America. Although I believe in reading about it, German and Italian americans caught a lot of strife because of it.

As for guantanamo, cant we just open the fenceline and let the prisoners walk free? Im sure cuba would welcome them with open arms... if they make it thru the mine's just past the fence. It seems so much more economical to me.

Or cant we just put them on a boat set to come back to America...that happens to have an acccident:

Carribean Pirate attack with Missle launchers?
Severily cross-eyed and lost Somolian Pirates with Bombs??
Ice berg crash?
Bermuda triangle Loss?
sets sails as a huricane is coming thru?

All so much more ecconomical.

or call Chavez down in Venezuela and see if he wants them, send them on a slow boat ride.
I believe there were German U-boats off the Atlantic coast, they were just unsuccessfull. There were attempted terrorist attacks by Germans in New York as well.

German assaults

German landings in the United States

Duquesne Spy Ring

Even before the war, a large Nazi spy ring was found operating in the United States. The Duquesne Spy Ring is still the largest espionage case in United States history that ended in convictions. The 33 German agents that formed the Duquesne spy ring were placed in key jobs in the United States to get information that could be used in the event of war and to carry out acts of sabotage: one person opened a restaurant and used his position to get information from his customers; another person worked on an airline so that he could report allied ships that were crossing the Atlantic Ocean; others in the ring worked as delivery people so that they could deliver secret messages alongside normal messages. The ring was led by Captain Fritz Joubert Duquesne, a colorful South African Boer who spied for Germany in both World Wars and is best known as "The man who killed Kitchener" after he was awarded the Iron Cross for his key role in the sabotage and sinking of HMS Hampshire in 1916.[9] William G. Sebold, a double agent for the United States, was a major factor in the FBI's successful resolution of this case. For nearly two years, Sebold ran a radio station in New York for the ring, giving the FBI valuable information on what Germany was sending to its spies in the United States while also controlling the information that was being transmitted to Germany. On June 29, 1941, the FBI closed in. All 33 spies were arrested, found guilty, and sentenced to serve a total of over 300 years in prison.


Operation Pastorius

When the United States entered World War II, Adolf Hitler ordered the remaining German saboteurs to wreak havoc on the country. The responsibility for carrying this out was given to German Intelligence (Abwehr). In June 1942, eight agents were recruited and divided into two teams: the first, commanded by George John Dasch, with Ernst Peter Burger, Heinrich Heinck and Richard Quirin. The second, under the command of Edward Kerling, with Hermann Neubauer, Werner Thiel and Herbert Haupt.

On June 12, 1942, U-Boat U-202 landed Dasch's team with explosives and plans at East Hampton, Long Island, New York.[10] Their mission was to destroy power plants at Niagara Falls and three Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA) factories in Illinois, Tennessee and New York. However, Dasch decided to turn himself in to the FBI, providing them with a complete account of the planned mission, which led to the arrest of the complete team.

Kerling's team landed from U-584 at Ponte Vedra Beach (25 miles [40 km] south-east of Jacksonville, Florida), on June 17. They were tasked with laying mines in four areas: the Pennsylvania Railroad in Newark NJ., canal sluices in both St. Louis and Cincinnati, and New York City's water supply pipes. The team made their way to Cincinnati, Ohio and split up, with two going to Chicago, Illinois and the others to New York. However, the Dasch confession led to the arrest of all of the men by July 10.

All eight were tried, convicted by the Military Commission with six men sentenced to death. President Roosevelt approved the sentences. The constitutionality of the military commissions was upheld by the Supreme Court in Ex parte Quirin and six of the eight men were executed by electrocution on August 8. Dasch and Burger were given thirty-year prison sentences. Both were released in 1948 and deported to Germany.[11] Dasch (aka George Davis), who had been a longtime American resident prior to the war, suffered a difficult life in Germany after his return from U.S. custody due to his cooperation with U.S. authorities. As a condition of his deportation, he was not permitted to return to the United States, even though he spent many years writing letters to prominent American authorities (J. Edgar Hoover, President Eisenhower, etc.) requesting permission to return. He eventually fled to Switzerland and wrote a book, titled Eight Spies Against America. [12]


Operation Elster
In 1944 there was another attempt at infiltration, codenamed Operation Elster ("Magpie"). Elster involved Erich Gimpel and German American defector William Colepaugh. Their mission objective was to gather intelligence on the Manhattan Project and attempt sabotage if possible. The pair sailed from Kiel on U-1230 and landed at Hancock Point, Maine on November 30, 1944. Both made their way to New York, but the operation degenerated into total failure. Colepaugh turned himself in to the FBI on December 26, confessing the whole plan; Gimpel was arrested four days later in New York. Both men were sentenced to death but eventually had their sentences commuted. Gimpel spent 10 years in prison; Colepaugh was released in 1960 and operated a business in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania before retiring to Florida.


German landings in Canada

St. Martins, New Brunswick
At about the same time as the Dasch operation (on April 25), a solitary Abwehr agent (Marius A Langbein) was landed by U-boat (possibly U-217) near St. Martins, New Brunswick, Canada. His mission was to observe and report shipping movements at Halifax, Nova Scotia (the main departure port for North Atlantic convoys). Langbein changed his mind, however, and moved to Ottawa where he lived off his Abwehr funds, before surrendering to the Canadian authorities in December 1944.


New Carlisle, Quebec
In November, the U-518 sank two iron ore freighters and damaged another off Bell Island in Conception Bay, Newfoundland, en route to the Gaspé Peninsula where, despite an attack by a Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft, it successfully landed a spy, Werner von Janowski, at New Carlisle, Quebec on November 9, 1942. He was soon apprehended after Earl Annett Jr., manager of the New Carlisle Hotel, at which Janowski was staying, became suspicious and alerted authorities to a stranger using obsolete currency at the hotel bar.[13] The R.C.M.P. arrested Janowski on a CNR passenger train headed for Montreal. Inspection of Janowski's personal effects upon his arrest revealed that he was carrying a powerful radio transmitter, among other things. Janowski later spent some time posing as a double agent, sending false messages to the Abwehr in Germany. The effectiveness and honesty of his "turn" is a matter of some dispute.


Weather Station Kurt

Martin Bay
Accurate weather reporting was important to the sea war and on 18 September 1943, U-537 sailed from Kiel, via Bergen (Norway), with a meteorological team lead by Professor Kurt Sommermeyer. They landed at Martin Bay near the northern tip of Labrador on 22 October 1943 and successfully set up an automatic weather station ("Weather Station Kurt" or "Wetter-Funkgerät Land-26"), despite the constant risk of Allied air patrols. It only worked for a short time. At the beginning of July 1944, U-867 left Bergen to replace the failed equipment, but was sunk en route. The weather station was recovered in the 1980s and is now at the Canadian War Museum.


U-Boat operations

United States
The Atlantic Ocean was a major strategic battle zone (Second Battle of the Atlantic) and when Germany declared war on the U.S., the East Coast of the United States offered easy pickings for German U-Boats (referred to as the Second Happy Time). After a highly successful foray by five Type IX long-range U-boats, the offensive was maximised by the use of short-range Type VII U-boats, with increased fuel stores, replenished from supply U-boats or "Milchkühe" (Translation: Milk Cows). From February to May, 1942, 348 ships were sunk, for the loss of 2 U-boats during April and May. U.S. naval commanders were reluctant to introduce the convoy system that had protected trans-Atlantic shipping and, without coastal blackouts, shipping was silhouetted against the bright lights of American towns and cities such as Atlantic City until a dim-out was ordered in May.[14]

The cumulative effect of this campaign was severe; a quarter of all wartime sinkings—3.1 million tons. There were several reasons for this. The naval commander, Admiral Ernest King, was averse to taking British recommendations to introduce convoys, U.S. Coast Guard and Navy patrols were predictable and could be avoided by U-boats, poor inter-service co-operation, and the U.S. Navy did not possess enough suitable escort vessels (British and Canadian warships were transferred to the U.S. east coast).


East Coast
Several ships were torpedoed within sight of East Coast cities such as New York and Boston; indeed, some civilians sat on beaches and watched battles between U.S. and German ships. The only documented World War II sinking of a U-boat close to New England shores occurred on May 5, 1945, when the U-853 torpedoed and sank the collier ship Black Point off Newport, Rhode Island. When the Black Point was hit, the U.S. Navy immediately chased down the sub and began dropping depth charges. The next day, when an oil slick and floating debris appeared, they confirmed that the U-853 and its entire crew had been destroyed. In recent years, the U-853 has become a popular dive site. Its intact hull, with open hatches, is located in 130 feet of water off Block Island, Rhode Island.[15] A wreck discovered in 1991 off the New Jersey coast was concluded in 1997 to be that of U-869. Previously, U-869 been thought sunk off Rabat, Morrocco.[16]


Gulf of Mexico
Once convoys and air cover were introduced in the Atlantic, sinking numbers were reduced and the U-boats shifted to attack shipping in the Gulf of Mexico. During 1942 and 1943, more than 20 U-boats operated in the Gulf of Mexico. They attacked tankers transporting oil from ports in Texas and Louisiana, successfully sinking 56 vessels. By the end of 1943, the U-boat attacks diminished as the merchant ships began to travel in armed convoys.[17]

In one instance, the tanker Virginia was torpedoed in the mouth of the Mississippi River by the German U-Boat U-507 on May 12, 1942, killing 26 crewmen. There were 14 survivors. Again, when defensive measures were introduced, ship sinkings decreased and U-boat sinkings increased.

The U-166 was the only U-boat sunk in the Gulf of Mexico during the war. Once thought to have been sunk by a torpedo dropped from a U.S. Coast Guard Utility Amphibian J4F aircraft on August 1, 1942, the U-166 is now believed to have been sunk two days earlier by depth charges from the Robert E. Lee’s naval escort, the U.S. Navy sub-chaser, PC-566. It is thought that the J4F aircraft may have spotted and attacked another German submarine, the U-171, that was operating in the area at the same time. The U-166 lies in 5,000 feet of water within a mile of her last victim, the passenger ship SS Robert E. Lee.[18]


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attacks_on ... ted_States

The Americans saw the Japanese as sub-human, including the federal government:

Image

Many US citizens were decended from Germans and Italians though and didn't view them the same way.
Image
Paul of Dune was so bad it gave me a seizure that dislocated both of my shoulders and prolapsed my anus.
~Pink Snowman
User avatar
chanilover
Posts: 1644
Joined: 18 Feb 2008 08:29

Re: Senate votes to block funds for Guantanamo closure

Post by chanilover »

trang wrote:Eyes, I believe the panic to lock up all the japanese- americans was because Japan Attacked Pearl harbor... and the california coastline was next in line for the warships... Up until that point Germany and Italy were Western europe issues.. not directly attacking America. Although I believe in reading about it, German and Italian americans caught a lot of strife because of it.

As for guantanamo, cant we just open the fenceline and let the prisoners walk free? Im sure cuba would welcome them with open arms... if they make it thru the mine's just past the fence. It seems so much more economical to me.

Or cant we just put them on a boat set to come back to America...that happens to have an acccident:

Carribean Pirate attack with Missle launchers?
Severily cross-eyed and lost Somolian Pirates with Bombs??
Ice berg crash?
Bermuda triangle Loss?
sets sails as a huricane is coming thru?

All so much more ecconomical.

or call Chavez down in Venezuela and see if he wants them, send them on a slow boat ride.
:lol: Outstanding!
"You and your buddies and that b*tch Mandy are nothing but a gang of lying, socially maladjusted losers." - St Hypatia of Arrakeen.
Image
Image
User avatar
SandChigger
KJASF Ground Zero
Posts: 14492
Joined: 08 Feb 2008 22:29
Location: A continuing state of irritation
Contact:

Re: Senate votes to block funds for Guantanamo closure

Post by SandChigger »

There's a book I have back in the States on the racism on both sides during WW II:

War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War by John W. Dower (Amazon link).
Post Reply