Speaking today at his “Worldwide Troop Talk,” Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said it “would be nice” to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay and move all the detainees someplace more convenient within the United States.
At the same time, Carter insisted that closing the prison wouldn’t mean the US would give up the military base there, and that the US intends to keep Guantanamo Bay, irrespective of Cuban objections, going forward with or without a prison at the site.
The US has had a naval base at Guantanamo Bay since 1903, making it the oldest overseas US naval base. Cuba has sought to cancel the lease on the base for over 55 years, and for decades the base’s primary value was because of US hostility toward Cuba. Since 2002 it was also a detention center, used by the US government to detain people without charges, and outside of the jurisdiction of US courts.
President Obama has claimed to want to close the detention center there, but has made no actual efforts to do so. With the recent rapprochement between the US and Cuba, the White House has promised to “discuss” Guantanamo Bay, though officials maintain that the permanent, trivially cheap lease on the base that they secured in the wake of the Spanish-American War is likely to remain in place, irrespective of Cuban objections.
If US business interests desire to continue doing business with Cuba, Cuba should tell them,first, give us the base BACK NOW.
Your argument that "for decades the base’s primary value was because of US hostility toward Cuba" is not correct, IMO. The fact of US control since 1903 should make that clear. The primary value of the base has all along been about naval control of the Windward Passage, which is the major choke point into an out of the Caribbean. After Panama Canal was built, adding an even more important choke point to the Caribbean, Windward Passage was and is increasingly vital. During the Cold War, it's clear why that control was necessary. And when Haiti (on the other side of the passage) seemed about to go socialist or communist, the importance increased exponentially. Imagine having two socialist states on either side of the passage, and/or Panama also in play as a Cold War objective (like back in the days of the Nicaragua wars). And then there's another similar issue at the Mona Passage (between Puerto Rico and Dom Rep). Two words suffice: choke point. Look at a map of shipping lanes ("SLOCs – Sea Lines of Communication").
As a US Navy veteran of the Korean War, I respectfully disagree with your assessment of the present value of Gitmo to our national defense. In 1903 it was useful (if not vital) to have a naval base at Gitmo to assist in "naval control" of the Windward Passage between Cuba and Haiti; in 2015, our armed forces (air, land and sea) have ample control over shipping in that area and throughout the Caribbean regardless of whether Gitmo is operative or not. Gitmo has never since WWII been an important naval base from our national defense standpoint. By contrast, the much larger and superior naval base at Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, was a very important naval base until our Government (in its infinite wisdom) chose to shut it down a few years ago — over the kicking and screaming of most Puerto Ricans, who recognized its economic value to them as one of the largest and best employers in Puerto Rico. The sad fact is that the main reason for our Government's refusal to vacate the naval base at Gitmo is that the Cubans want it back; in other words, pure spite. As for your concern about Communists occupying both sides of the Windward Passage, do you seriously believe that our national security in the year 2015 is threatened by a few disgruntled Haitians and Cubans sitting around watching foreign ships sail between their islands?
September 17, 2014 US Pursues 134 Wars Around the World
The US is now involved in 134 wars or none, depending on your definition of war …The White House spent much of last week trying to figure out if the word "war" was the right one to describe its military actions against the Islamic State. US Secretary of State John Kerry was at first reluctant: "We're engaged in a major counterterrorism operation," he told CBS News on Sept. 11. "I think war is the wrong terminology and analogy but the fact is that we are engaged in a very significant global effort to curb terrorist activity… I don't think people need to get into war fever on this. I think they have to view it as a heightened level of counter terrorist activity." – Global Post
http://www.thedailybell.com/news-analysis/35654/U…
December 24, 2013 The Worldwide Network of US Military Bases The Global Deployment of US Military Personnel
The US Military has bases in **63** countries. Brand new military bases have been built since September 11, 2001 in seven countries. In total, there are 255,065 US military personnel deployed Worldwide. These facilities include a total of 845,441 different buildings and equipments. The underlying land surface is of the order of 30 million acres. According to Gelman, who examined 2005 official Pentagon data, the US is thought to own a total of **737** bases in foreign lands. Adding to the bases inside U.S. territory, the total land area occupied by US military bases domestically within the US and internationally is of the order of **2,202,735** hectares, which makes the Pentagon one of the largest landowners worldwide (Gelman, J., 2007).
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-worldwide-networ…
Gitmo is used as a vacation resort by senior officers and a gravy train were certain insiders make millions of dollars. It has no military value at all, and sucks up funds and manpower that could be used for a fleet of ships. Here are more details:
http://www.g2mil.com/closegitmo.htm