SC Brig considered for terror suspects

[Reba]

This brig is very close to where I work and live.

It's also the brig near where the two Egyptian students were arrested for carrying explosive devices in their car.

Brig's future considered for detention of terror suspects

Graham against Navy facility holding suspects if Guantanamo shuts down

By Schuyler Kropf
The Post and Courier
Sunday, November 16, 2008

HANAHAN — The Navy Brig shouldn't be considered a detention site for terror suspects if President-elect Barack Obama gets his way and shuts down the operation at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, U.S. Sen. Lindsay Graham said.

Almost everything about the brig in Hanahan is wrong for holding terror detainees into the future, including its location near Lowcountry urban population areas, he said.

A more preferable site, he said, would be to start anew with a secure and isolated militarized "supermax" type prison, a highly secure facility where some of the most notorious are assigned.

"Let the military house these folks in a prison that is designed for the threat," Graham said during a telephone interview.

Graham's comments come as Obama transition advisers have begun look-ing at ways to close Guantanamo and move prosecution of terror suspects to the United States.

No alternative holding sites have definitely been identified, but the brig at the Charleston Naval Weapons Station could play a role.

U.S. Rep. Henry Brown, whose 1st Congressional District includes the brig, said determination of where to house Guantanamo's prisoners should not be made in private.

"Any decision to close the facility housing detainees at Guantanamo should only come after a full evaluation of alternate locations for these individuals," he said. "Site selection by the Department of Defense must include ample opportunity for community input and a full disclosure of potential risks."

Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn declined to comment on speculation about the brig's future.

The brig's use as a suspected terrorist holding site first surfaced in June 2002 when authorities announced that accused "dirty bomber" Jose Padilla had been moved there. The disclosure came about a month after his arrest.

Two other terror detainees have since been held at the brig, including Saudi student Yaser Esam Hamdi, an American citizen picked up on the battlefield in Afghanistan; and Bradley University graduate Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, a Qatari arrested in Illinois as an alleged al-Qaida associate.

Only al-Marri is still there.

While Graham is against the extended use of the brig, a local defense attorney who represents al-Marri said he sees nothing wrong with increasing the brig's mission. Charleston lawyer Andy Savage said the brig already has the reputation of being as secure as a supermax prison.

He also said the staff is highly professional, the security is beyond question and that any talk of escapes or other plots is "nonsense political fodder."

The Obama camp is considering ways for some detainees to be released while others would be charged in U.S. courts where they could receive constitutional rights and open trials, The Associated Press reported. The notion has drawn some early criticism from Democrats who oppose creating a new legal system and from Republicans who oppose bringing terrorism suspects to the U.S. mainland.

About 255 detainees are held at Guantanamo, some of whom could be repatriated. But one hurdle U.S. authorities faces is that detainees' home governments, in many cases, do not want them back.

If you go to the link you can see an aerial picture of the brig.

Charleston, SC Latest Local News: Brig's future considered for detention of terror suspects


This facility is on the same base. I don't think would be a good idea to have the brig prisoners so close to it.

World Wide Watchers

SPAWAR a hub of global military information
By John P. McDermott
The Post and Courier
Monday, September 15, 2008


HANAHAN — In a secured laboratory off Remount Road, engineers at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Charleston fiddle with what resembles a long, rectangular Etch A Sketch screen. As Robert Regal twirls his finger on it in a circular motion, the slick surface springs to life in a kaleidoscope of colors.

He then taps the screen to pull up a digital map showing the real-time locations of dozens of vessels navigating the Atlantic Ocean. Pressing a thumb and a pinky on two of the icons, he instantly can see the exact coordinates and other details that the Navy might want to know in an instant, such as the best course a warship or submarine would need to take to rendezvous with — or intercept — another.

Borrowing "multitouch" screen technology for defense purposes is one of the myriad ways that SPAWAR, as it is known, is looking to bridge the gap between the Pentagon and the iPod. It also reflects a push by the electronic engineering command to come up with ever more creative ways to keep U.S. armed forces a step ahead of "the bad guys," said Philipp "Phil" Charles, the newly promoted top civilian executive at the Charleston center.

"The idea is not to get hung up on the technology but on the things that the technology lets you do in new ways," Charles said.

Partly because of the sensitive nature of its work and its cloistered location on the Charleston Naval Weapons Station, SPAWAR remains a local enigma. But among those in the region's defense contracting world, the high-tech command is widely viewed as the 21st-century version of the old Charleston Naval Base and Shipyard.

Unlike the shipyard, which had been drifting toward obsolescence for years before it was closed in 1996, SPAWAR Systems Center Charleston, and the demand for its high-tech know-how, is expanding.

"Our command is healthy, and we're growing," said Charles, whose title is technical director. "The area of business that we're in ... is a growth industry."

Lots of dollars

Explaining what SPAWAR does can be a challenge. In the simplest terms, it essentially is a government-sponsored information-technology outfit that adapts communication devices for the military. It was created by the Navy to provide sailors and Marines with every possible electronic advantage while in combat.

"We connect them, give them improved situational awareness and help them make better decisions, faster than the bad guys," Charles said.

SPAWAR differs from most federal agencies because of its status as a "working capital organization," meaning it receives no direct appropriations from Congress. Rather, the center competes with the private sector and other government agencies to win contracts and fund its annual operating budget.

SPAWAR's imprint on the region's economy is significant, with the latest estimate coming in at $2.3 billion annually. It employs 1,500 civilian government workers and boasts one of the highest concentrations of technology engineers in South Carolina. Much of its work is farmed out to private-sector defense contractors — the preferred term at SPAWAR is "industry partners" — that employ about 9,000-10,000 employees. The center also attracts about 6,000 out-of-town visitors every year.

"So there's a lot of dollars that come through this command and ... a lot of impact on the local economy," Charles said.

Indeed, more than $3.7 billion worth of contract work flowed through the Weapons Station facility during the 2007 fiscal year, up 37 percent from the previous year. This year, revenue is expected to surpass $4 billion, Charles said.

Much of the increased workload and revenue growth at SPAWAR is tied directly to the push to get the armed services to interact more closely — not only with each other but with numerous other agencies. In government-speak, it's known as "jointness," and it's an initiative that has intensified since the 9/11 terrorist attacks seven years ago.

While SPAWAR is at its core a naval organization, its mission "does not stop at the brow of the Navy ship," Charles said.

"We have to be able to operate with federal and national agencies, as well as local law enforcement. So jointness means a lot more than it used to," he said.

On a mission

But the increased emphasis on collaboration also creates technical challenges at SPAWAR's end as the sharing of information increases. Charles said one of his top goals is to make SPAWAR more nimble and break through what he calls the "transformation barrier" by getting a firmer grasp of the high-tech tools the new military will need to do its job efficiently and effectively.

"There's a greater need for agility and a greater need to do multiple simultaneous missions," he said. "And, therefore, ... to support all these simultaneous traditional and nontraditional missions, we can't keep building specialized boxes, specialized technology solutions, to support each and every problem."

To get to the next level, some engineers are being dispatched to ships and other military posts to observe, ask questions and seek recommendations. Also, SPAWAR has launched an in-house innovation program that offers technical employees time and funding to develop new ideas and boost their creativity quotient.

"Our young engineers love this," Charles said.

The work on iPod-like multitouch screens is another example of where SPAWAR is heading as it seek to meet the growing demands of an increasingly tech-reliant military, he said.

"It's not only how can we give them more bandwidth, faster computing power and more connectivity, but how can we enable them to do things in new ways ... and not limit the way they do things now, like a mouse with a single-focus point and click. Big, big opportunity there, in my mind," Charles said.

You can see pictures at:

Charleston, SC Latest Business News: World Wide Watchers

 

[XBGMER]

Yeah I already heard this on CNN before you created this.. I really respect your concernings as well as i have some concerns also.. thats awful terrible idea!

 

[Maria]

I believe that Obama would weaken the PATRIOT Act in important ways and would increase our vulnerability to terrorists. I am now wonderin' why people are startin' to buy guns for their self-defense/protection reasons.

 

[Hear Again]

maria,

obama isn't going to weaken the patriot act or increase our vulnerability to terrorists. if terrorists want to destroy us, there is nothing we can do to stop them.

 

[Maria]

maria,

obama isn't going to weaken the patriot act or increase our vulnerability to terrorists. if terrorists want to destroy us, there is nothing we can do to stop them.

What about the United States has released terrorists from Guantanamo ? Did you read one of Reba's threads about what happened near her home area ?

 

[Jiro]

What about the United States has released terrorists from Guantanamo ? Did you read one of Reba's threads about what happened near her home area ?

you do know that they get deported back to their own country?

 

[Maria]

you do know that they get deported back to their own country?

Did media/news say that ? Where did you hear that from ?

 

[jillio]

Did media/news say that ? Where did you hear that from ?

You mean your crystal ball didn't tell you that?

 

[Jiro]

Did media/news say that ? Where did you hear that from ?

uh..... please do tell me what do you think what the guards do with the released prisoners from Gitmo Camp?

 

[jillio]

uh..... please do tell me what do you think what the guards do with the released prisoners from Gitmo Camp?

Turn them loose in Maria's neighborhood?

 

[Maria]

uh..... please do tell me what do you think what the guards do with the released prisoners from Gitmo Camp?

Guantanamo Splits Administration
Arguments Center on How to Handle Remaining Detainees

By Josh White and Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, June 22, 2007; Page A03

Senior Bush administration officials are engaged in active discussions about closing the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but deep divisions remain regarding the fate of the approximately 375 foreign detainees currently held there should the prison close, according to numerous officials familiar with the ongoing dialogue.

President Bush has stated publicly his desire to shut down the facility, which has drawn significant criticism and damaged the United States' reputation internationally. But debates over the legal implications and logistical hurdles to closing Guantanamo have highlighted the difficulties of such a move. Despite rising interest among the highest levels of the administration to resolve this issue before the end of Bush's presidency, viable alternatives have proved elusive, officials said yesterday.
Key discussions have centered on how to repatriate roughly 75 remaining detainees who have been cleared for release or transfer, how to put roughly 80 detainees on trial following major failures in the Military Commissions Act, and where to indefinitely hold an additional 220 detainees the government deems too dangerous to release. While there have been preliminary talks of bringing them to military detention centers in the United States, there has been significant opposition from Vice President Cheney as well as from the Justice and Homeland Security departments, and officials said yesterday that they are not on the brink of a decision.

"The President has long expressed a desire to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and to do so in a responsible way," National Security Council spokesman Gordon D. Johndroe said in a statement. "A number of steps need to take place before that can happen, such as setting up military commissions and the repatriation to their home countries of detainees who have been cleared for release. These and other steps have not been completed. No decisions on the future of Guantanamo Bay are imminent."

The Associated Press reported yesterday that a meeting of several top Bush administration officials about Guantanamo's future was scheduled for today, but the White House denied such a meeting was taking place. Two administration officials said last night that a meeting about several topics is scheduled for today but that the Guantanamo issue was removed from the agenda after news of the meeting broke.

Still, officials said the discussions are not yet at a decision point because too many issues remain unresolved. Justice officials have argued against moving Guantanamo detainees to the United States because it would immediately grant the alleged terrorists habeas corpus rights, which would launch another round of legal battles in U.S. federal courts. Homeland Security officials have opposed such a move because it would mean bringing some of the people on the nation's terror watch list -- including the highest-level detainees that the United States has in its custody, such as Khalid Sheik Mohammed -- inside U.S. borders. Cheney's office also has vehemently opposed bringing the detainees into this country.

The move toward closing the facility is rooted in part in the international outrage its existence has provoked, drawing criticism from international human rights groups, legal advocacy organizations and governments that can point to the indefinite detentions there as an example of U.S. hypocrisy about legal rights. Years-old allegations of abuse and severe interrogation tactics have soured the facility's reputation, and despite the military's efforts to make it an example of humane detention, four suicides in the past year have drawn negative attention and publicity.

"Of course people are talking about closing Guantanamo, of course," a senior administration official said. "[Defense Secretary Robert M.] Gates has said he wanted to close it down. [Secretary of State Condoleezza] Rice has spoken out on the issue. So far, it's a tide but not a wave. They don't want to leave this behind. They want to resolve this."

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) testified on Capitol Hill before the U.S. Helsinki Commission yesterday, stating that Guantanamo is "not only a problem but an international disgrace that every day continues to sully this great nation's good reputation." The commission is examining the human rights implications of keeping the facility open.

In testimony submitted to the commission, John Bellinger III, legal adviser to the State Department, said that the administration is "acutely aware" of concerns that have been raised at Guantanamo and understands that it has been "a lightning rod for international and domestic criticisms."

"Although our critics abroad and at home have called for Guantanamo to be shut immediately, they have not offered any credible alternatives for dealing with the dangerous individuals that are detained there," Bellinger said in written testimony. "Our experience has shown that transferring or releasing a detainee from Guantanamo is quite difficult."

Defense officials said they believe at least 22 -- and possibly as many as 50 -- former Guantanamo detainees have returned to the battlefield to fight against the United States and its allies, a significant concern should detainees cross into the United States and earn their release.

The Pentagon did a contingency study on housing the detainees at military facilities in the United States last year and determined that the only detention center that could realistically house more than 200 detainees from Guantanamo in maximum security cells would be the Navy brig in Charleston, S.C., but that the brig and the surrounding base would need significant security enhancements.

Staff writers Michael Abramowitz and Peter Baker and staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.


Guantanamo Splits Administration - washingtonpost.com

 

[jillio]

The battlefield is not necessarily the United States. Think Middle East, Maria.

 

[Maria]

Afghans Released From Gitmo Return to Terrorism
Back to the Moslem Terrorist Page


Insight on the News - World
Issue: 7/6/04

By Shaun Waterman

Several prisoners released by the U.S. military from a detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have rejoined their comrades in arms and taken part in fresh attacks on U.S. forces, according to Defense Department officials and a senior GOP lawmaker.

"We've already had instances where we know that people who have been released from our detention have gone back and have become combatants again," Rep. Porter Goss (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence told United Press International recently.

"It's the military Willie Horton," he said, referring to the notorious killer who absconded on furlough and a year later pistol-whipped a man and raped his fiancee. "I do in fact have specific cases," he said when pressed for further details, but declined to say more.

The Willie Horton case became a major issue in the 1988 presidential campaign, and the case of the released detainees threatens likewise this week to become a political issue as Congress returns in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the Guantanamo Bay detainees have a right to file writs of habeas corpus.

A Defense official confirmed to UPI that several such cases had involved Afghans released from Guantanamo. "At least five detainees released from Guantanamo have returned to the [Afghan] battlefield," said the Defense official, who requested anonymity.

When asked how U.S. authorities could know, the official declined to comment. "That gets into intel[ligence] stuff. I can't go there," the official said.

Mark Jacobson, a former senior official at the Pentagon who helped put together the policy for detainees at Guantanamo, explained to UPI that every detainee is fingerprinted and photographed. "We build up pretty extensive biometrics on these guys," he said. "There are a lot of different ways we could know that someone we'd captured or killed had already been in our custody."

In the absence of further details, it is unclear how many of the five -- about 10 percent of the 57 Afghans released from Guantanamo -- have fallen back into the hands of U.S. forces, leaving open the possibility that more might be at large.

"I would hope our intel is good enough that we'd know if someone we'd released was back on the battlefield," said Jacobson, now a visiting scholar at the University of Michigan.

At least one of the men released appears to have been a Taliban field commander. Media reports from Afghanistan in April said that Mullah Shahzada, released in spring last year, had been captured or killed. Shahzada appears to have become active again almost immediately following his release. In May 2003, he -- or possibly another Afghan with the same name -- was interviewed in Quetta, Pakistan by a U.S. newspaper. The report, which described him as a "former fighter," did not mention that he had been detained in Guantanamo.

Until recently, the U.S. military made decisions about who should be released from Guantanamo on an ad hoc basis, considering, officials say, whether they have intelligence that might still be of use, and whether they continued to pose a threat. Jacobson described the process as "pretty meticulous."

"Even if five got through," he said, "that's still an 'A' grade."

The Defense official also defended the review process. "It's very thorough, but it's not foolproof," he said. "We err on the side of caution, but mistakes are going to be made."

The official said that the process was complicated by the lack of system of personal identity or other records in Afghanistan. "These people don't have driver's licenses," he told UPI. "They don't even have birth certificates. Some of them are trained in deception and counterinterrogation techniques. One guy had 13 aliases."

Earlier this year, facing a Supreme Court challenge to the legality of the Guantanamo detentions, the Pentagon began work on a more structured review process for detainees, under which an annual hearing would consider whether they still posed a threat. The initial plans for the new system were unveiled June 23 by Navy Secretary Gordon England.

England declined to comment on whether detainees released under the old, ad hoc review system had taken up arms again, but said it was one pitfall the new process he was in charge of was designed to avoid. "Obviously, we don't want to release someone who's going to come back and attack America or our allies," he said.

But the Supreme Court ruling last week, and the prospect that the Pentagon will now face an avalanche of litigation from the 500-plus detainees still held at Guantanamo, has left plans for the new system in limbo.

England said it was too soon to tell what might happen "The department is still reviewing the [Supreme Court] decision," he said. "We just don't know what we're going to do yet."

Ruth Wedgwood, a staunch defender of the administration's legal strategies for detention, said that the court's ruling had "left everything quite confused." She said that although the judges had made it clear some form of review was necessary, they had given officials no real guidance on how it should work.

Whatever arrangements were eventually made to fulfill the legal duty to provide due process, she said "they are not going to be as simple as the Supreme Court seems to think."

The Defense official said the Pentagon might use the new review process, both to reduce the numbers being detained before the department has to go through the arduous process of preparing to defend multiple habeas corpus writs, and to show the courts that there already is some due process in the continuing, open-ended detentions at Guantanamo.

Experts familiar with the review procedures agreed. "The process of sorting through the detainees will be put into overdrive," predicted Elisa C. Massimino, director of the Washington office of Human Rights First.

Eugene R. Fidell of the National Institute for Military Justice expects the numbers of those detained to drop precipitately "to below 200" before the courts begin to consider habeas writs. "The floodgates problem has been overstated," he said.

Jacobson said it would have been wiser to treat the detainees captured in Afghanistan as prisoners of war "straight off the bat" -- as some on the administration had urged -- rather than leaving them in the legally murky situation of unlawful combatants. "That way," he pointed out, "the only question is 'When is the conflict over?' The courts don't get involved."

"It makes much more sense to do Article Five hearings on the front end than get into complex review procedures afterward," agreed Massimino, referring to the process mandated by Article Five of the Geneva Convention, whereby those captured on the battlefield are screened to check they really are combatants and not bystanders or displaced persons caught up in the fighting.

Other commentators said the administration had only itself to blame for any difficulties it now found itself in. The National Journal's Stuart Taylor said that the administration had provoked the court "by refusing to give even the minimal hearings [to detainees] most agree are required under international law." The court, he said, was effectively "being asked to put its imprimatur on violations of international law that had caused worldwide outrage."

Goss said he would hold Intelligence Committee hearings on detention issues later this month.

Shaun Waterman is the homeland and national security editor for UPI, a sister news organization of Insight.


Afghans Released From Gitmo Return to Terrorism

 

[Jiro]

so..... I haven't seen anything in there that said about releasing terrorists in America

 

[jillio]

so..... I haven't seen anything in there that said about releasing terrorists in America

Exactly. It said they returned to "terrorism". It did not say they were released and living in America. "Rejoined their comrades in arms" suggests that they returned to their native countries.

It also stated that at least five have returned to the "Afghani battlefield." Last time I checked, there wasn't a location in the U.S. known as the "Afghani Battlefield."

 

[Hear Again]

Turn them loose in Maria's neighborhood?

 

[Hear Again]

What about the United States has released terrorists from Guantanamo ? Did you read one of Reba's threads about what happened near her home area ?

no i didn't.

 

[Liebling:-)))]

Did media/news say that ? Where did you hear that from ?

Oh yes, Plenty!!!!

Many innocents were being released to Europe, East Middle and Australia from Guantanamo. Do you really think they would live in America after what and how they were being suffered really badly in that camp?

I would highly recommend anyone including you to read German-Turkish Murat Kurnaz's book "Five Years of My Life: An Innocent Man in Guantanamo". It's about human rights and justice. It's horror... It got goose pumps when I read this book, I bought at 2 weeks ago and read the whole 288 pages for a day from morning to night....

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Five-Years-My-Life-Guantanamo/dp/0230603742]Amazon.com: Five Years of My Life: An Innocent Man in Guantanamo: Murat Kurnaz: Books[/ame]

Many innocents like Murat Kurnaz were being tortured, sexually abuse, allow dogs to bite them, etc... many lies spread out against "terrorist suspects" in medias, etc. One of many bad soliders told Murat that they will treat him like what Nazi treat Jews in Nazi camps. Murat was being sold to American authorities for $3,000 in Pakatison before transfered him to Afangistation then Guantanamo... A man, he met in Guantanamo who can speak German... He was a doctor and have family and live in Pakatiston for 20 years and see their children grow up... Pakatisians use foreigners to sell American authorities for $$$ and label them as terrorist... 11 September.... Obsama.... It's horror...

They have no reason to put innocents in camps when they have no proof against them... Many ex-Gitmos said in TV interviews that they felt that American authorities use those word "terrorist suspects" as an excuse to accuse them because they are muslim.

Former Gitmo prisoner says he was abused
Ex-Gitmo prisoner says he was abused - Guantanamo- msnbc.com


Gitmo detainee: U.S. soldiers mistreated me
Gitmo detainee claims abuse - Guantanamo- msnbc.com


Accord Murat's book, he was good with all prisoners... Some prisoners were being killed in Guantanamo Bay thru torture, not sucide commit what the medias claimed. I thought the prisoners killed each other thru violience until I learn a lot from ex-Gitmos and their stories... They do not killed or hurt each other but tight together like family... The torture droves them to death slowly....



I'm glad with Obama's plan to shut Guantanamo Bay camp down.

 

[DURAY]

some countries will just tortured them. so some prisoners won't go there. some countires accepted them, like Albania. Why can all moved to an island on the North Pole or the South Pole so they can learn a lesson about becoming a terrorist, hating Israel and attacking Americans? oh wait, their Americans lawyers, the ACLU and all the fancy and expensive law firms are defending them pro bono. How come the Taliban or Al Qaeda don't have their own lawyers or law firm? Why should they? They didn't even sign the Geneva convention or try to understand the document.

The battlefield is in Iraq and Afghanistan. Jillio, it is a metaphor. of course, a liberal at work.

 

[BradB08]

What about the United States has released terrorists from Guantanamo ? Did you read one of Reba's threads about what happened near her home area ?

Gitmo should be closed and so should the brig in SC.

I firmly believe that we are going in the wrong direction with this "war on terrorism" and eventually, it's going to spill over to where ordinary Americans are going to be the ones imprisoned on brigs or in FEMA camps.