Rep. McKeon Vows to Keep Gitmo Open

Schilling Lauds Conditions of Soccer-Playing Detainees

House Armed Services Committee chair Rep. Buck McKeon (R – CA) and 10 other members of the committee took a one day trip to Guantanamo Bay last week, and are all back to regale us with stories of happy detainees, most being held without charges for the rest of their lives, reading books and enjoying soccer in the pleasant, Caribbean atmosphere.

Rep. Bobby Schilling (R – IL) insisted Guantanamo was “nothing compared to what it tends to get painted here,” and everyone seemed quite comfortable that the staged showing for a Congressional delegation was realistic enough to warrant keeping the facility open, likely forever. Schilling noted “they’re being treated pretty darned well,” which apparently means pretty well for extralegal detainees being held incommunicado for years on end.

Schilling added that he really likes the idea of keeping the facility in Guantanamo Bay, instead of moving it to Thomson, IL, near his district. He says he believes that doing so would encourage terrorists to flock to Thomson.

Rep. McKeon was so enthused that he vowed to keep Guantanamo Bay open at any cost, and that he would use all the powers of his new position to prevent any efforts that might lead to it even theoretically being closed at some point.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.