News Items (11/19/09)

Homeland Security: Greater Attention to Key Practices Would Improve the Federal Protective Service's Approach to Facility Protection. GAO-10-142, October 23
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-10-142
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d10142high.pdf

Homeland Security: Greater Attention to Key Practices Would Help Address Security Vulnerabilities at Federal Buildings. GAO-10-236T, November 18
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-10-236T
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d10236thigh.pdf

Born in US, a Radical Cleric Inspires Terror

GAO: Security agency is making progress, but still falling short

GAO Questions Benefits of New Radiation Detectors READ MORE...

MSNBC graphic misleads on senators' support for KSM trial

NBC and ABC cite conservative criticism of criminal terror trials but ignore conservative endorsements

Quick Fact: Wash. Times editorial falsely claimed Obama "instructed" FBI to begin Mirandizing suspected terrorists captured overseas

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TERRORISM: Building Momentum To Close Guantanamo

One of the worst legacies of the Bush administration is the use of the military prison facility at Guantanamo Bay to house terrorism suspects. The Guantanamo Bay facility acted as a "lawless enclave" where detainees were stripped of most of their rights to defend themselves and even faced torture. Shortly after coming into office, President Obama signed an executive order to close the island prison camp. Although Congress originally opposed bringing detainees into the U.S., the Obama administration is shifting lawmakers' positions. Just yesterday, the Senate voted 57-43 to reject an attempt to "bar using funds from a defense spending bill to build or modify prisons in the United States to hold detainees from Guantanamo Bay, a move that suggested congressional Democrats may be lining up behind President Obama's vision for closing the military prison. One facility being sought out as a possible location for Guantanamo Bay prisoners is the mostly empty Thomson Correctional Center located in the rural town of Thomson, Illinois. Although the right has done its best to fear-monger about the possibility of housing detainees stateside, the residents of Thomson are proudly stepping u p, welcoming the possibility of housing Guantanamo detainees due to all the jobs and economic stimulus that such a move would provide.

THE THOMSON CORRECTIONAL FACILITY: The Thomson Correctional Center is located in the rural Illinois town of Thomson, located about 150 miles from Chicago. It was built as a maximum-security prison in 2001 on a budget of $145 million, yet a state budget crisis left the facility virtually unused in the eight years since. It has 1,600 cells but is currently holding only 144 inmates -- which is one of the major draws of using the facility to house Guantanamo detainees. Overcrowding of federal prisons is considered a "serious issue and one of the reasons why the Bureau of Prisons" has made the Thomson facility a likely choice. Illinois Gov. Patrick Quinn (D) has been one of the most vocal proponents of using the site. "I understand that you are still considering other options," Quinn wrote in a letter to the federal government, "but the federal Bureau of Prisons would be hard-pressed to find a similar facility with such extensive safety and security measures already in place anywhere in America." Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Roland Burris (D-IL) also have shown their support for the choice of Thomson Correctional Center. "I have full confidence that the facility can securely house terrorism suspects without compromising the safety of Thomson, or an y part of Illinois," said Burris in a statement. Meanwhile, Durbin appeared at a news conference Sunday where he promoted the opportunity to "bring thousands of good-paying jobs to Illinois" by relocating detainees to Thomson.

WELCOMING RESIDENTS: While those on the right already have attempted to drum up fear about the possibility of bringing Guantanamo detainees to Thomson Correctional Center, the truth is that the residents of the town aren't afraid. In fact, many of them are "warmly" welcoming the possibility of such a move. CNN's Gary Tuchmann traveled to Thomson and interviewed its residents about their feelings on moving Guantanamo detainees to the town. He concluded that "for economic reasons, people are very much in support" of the transfer. Indeed, many residents have told the press that they look forward to the rejuvenation of Thomson Correctional Center because it would lead to job growth in the region. "It would help the businesses here, and God knows we could use that," Thomson resident Kay Lawton told the Chicago Tribune. "It doesn't matter to me who they bring here." Thomson Village President Jerry Hebeler is just as welcoming. "A murderer is a murderer no matter where he's from. That's the way I look at it," he told the press. "As long as it's safe and we're protected, I'm comfortable with it. Maybe this is something that will put us on the map." Indeed, an estimate produced by the White House at the request of Quinn and Durbin showed that housing detainees in Thomson could generate between 2,300 and 3,200 jobs and pump between $790 million and $1 billion into the l ocal economy in its first four years. It is clear that Thomson favors job creation and the American constitutional tradition over far-right fear-mongering, much like Standish, Michigan, another possible site of detainee relocation, did when its city council voted 6-0 last month to encourage the federal government to relocate Guantanamo prisoners there, rebuking Rep. Pete Hoekstra's (R-MI) obstructionism against the move.

RIGHT-WING OBSTRUCTIONISTS: While the news that Thomson Correctional Center is being considered to house Guantanamo detainees was "greeted warmly" by the residents of the rural Illinois town, far-right obstructionists used the news to fear-monger and score political points. Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) -- who, ironically, joined Democrats in voting for Guantanamo detainees to be brought to the U.S. just last month -- quickly jumped on the opportunity to politicize the news. He began circulating a letter to the administration among state officials in which he ominously warned that bringing Guantanamo detainees to Thomson would turn the "Chicago Metropolitan Area [into] ground zero for Jihadist terrorist plots, recruitment, and radicalization." Rep. Don Manzullo (R-IL) made the even bolder claim that moving detainees to Thomson would make the city a direct "target for future terrorist activity." Rep. Steve King (R-IA) even called upon Rep. Bruce Baley (D-IA) to reverse his stance on bringing Guantanamo detainees stateside, because relocating them here would cause "innocent people [to] die." In opposing the transfer of detainees to Thomson, Kirk, King, and Manzullo are putting themselves at odds not only with job-seeking residents, but also fellow conservatives. In a joint statement prepared by the Constitution Project, David Keene, founder of American Conserva tive Union, Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, and former representative and presidential candidate Bob Barr write, "We are confident that the government can preserve national security without resorting to sweeping and radical departures from an American constitutional tradition that has served us effectively for over two centuries. ... The scare-mongering about these issues should stop."

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