Patrick Leahy: “at a Defense Department news briefing in December 2001, a reporter asked Secretary Rumsfeld why we should use Guantanamo…”

“at a Defense Department news briefing in December 2001, a reporter asked Secretary Rumsfeld why we should use Guantanamo Bay to hold detainees. Secretary Rumsfeld's answer was that he ``would characterize Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as the least worst place we could have selected.'' This was hardly a ringing endorsement. Now, 4\1/2\ years later, the administration and its defenders have been trying to change the subject from the legal morass that Guantanamo has become, and to argue that Guantanamo is like an island resort, with great food, top-notch medical care, and a view of the ocean. These arguments are distractions from the real issue, which is the needless way that the administration's unilateralism in its decisions about Guantanamo have compromised American principles and ideals and weakened our moral leadership in the world. If the administration has improved conditions at the prison, I am glad to know it. We may now run the most humane prison in the most scenic location in the world. But it is still a prison. Many prisoners have been kept in cells for more than 3 years without being charged and without a meaningful process to evaluate or challenge their detention. Regardless of how well the detainees are treated, it is not the American way to detain them indefinitely without an adequate hearing. These policies are not only beneath us, but they have radicalized an untold number of Muslims around the world.…”