Guantanamo Bay pro argues for it con against it

The detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba are fundamentalist Muslims who want to do harm to the western powers including the United States. "These 'detainees' are not innocent foot soldiers ...They are Islamic fundamentalists from across the Middle East, rabid jihadists who have dedicated their lives to the destruction of America and Western civilization," (American). The individuals detained in Guantanamo Bay want to destroy the United States and would gladly kill innocent people to achieve their goal. The United States does not bring every Muslim that they capture in Afghanistan to be kept at Guantanamo Bay. Rather those detained are, "al-Qaeda organizers, bomb makers, financial specialists, recruiters of suicide attackers, and just plain killers. Many of these men met frequently with Osama bin Laden," (American). People in any of these categories are extremely dangerous. They enable al-Qaeda to commit many acts of murder and kidnapping of innocent civilians not involved in the war in any way. By keeping these people away from the conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq, the United States Government significantly damages al-Qaeda and the Taliban's cause. People detained at Guantanamo Bay have been involved in bombings, kidnappings, and many more atrocities mainly occurring in civilian populations resulting in the death of hundreds of people. The detainees kept at Guantanamo Bay are extremely dangerous. These are people who have played a huge role in trying to destroy the western vision of democracy (American). These insurgents captured by the United States armed forces are extremely dangerous and hate the United States. Many detainees, after being released from Guantanamo Bay, have immediately returned to arms against United States and coalition forces (CNN). Guantanamo Bay should be kept open to stop fundamentalist Muslims captured by the United States Armed forces from returning to fight against the United States. "[A] total of 598 detainees [have] been transferred from the Guantanamo facility, with one hundred fifty confirmed or suspected of later taking part in terrorist or insurgent activities" (CNN). Therefore, 25% of the prisoners released from Guantanamo Bay went back to fight against the United States and its allies; one hundred fifty fundamentalist Muslims intent on destroying the western powers returning to the fight. If Guantanamo Bay is closed, additional terrorists and insurgents will be released and will return to the fight putting many more people in danger. According to retiring Senator Christopher Bond of Missouri, "It is unacceptable to continue transferring these dangerous detainees when we know that one in four are confirmed or suspected of returning to the fight" (CNN.) The United States government should not continue placing our soldiers and civilian populations in danger by releasing or transferring prisoners to foreign governments, many of which are extremely unstable. One example of this error occurred when the United States transferred prisoners to Yemen. "[A]ccording to U.S. officials, several released Guantanamo prisoners are now part of the Yemen-based group al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, including key leaders" (Transfers). This shows the United States is unable to rely on foreign nations to restrain their insurgents. As discussed above there are 150 terrorist and insurgents, former Guantanamo Bay detainees, who have returned to the fight; on the fateful day of September 11, 2001 it took just 19 terrorists to plan and succeed in killing 2,819 people. Of this number, only 55 soldiers were killed; all of the rest were civilian. These numbers do not include the amount of psychological trauma that the rest of the country experienced. There were 422,000 cases of post-traumatic-stress disorder in New York City alone (9/11). By keeping the Guantanamo Bay detention facility open, there will be less of chance of tragedies as horrible as 9/11 from ever occurring again. The men kept at Guantanamo Bay are dangerous and are intent on destroying the United States. The United States government has a responsibility to not allow even one Guantanamo detainee from returning to fight against the United States. Guantanamo Bay has become a key part of the United States war on terror (Disaster). Guantanamo Bay provides key intelligence crucial to stopping other terrorist attacks from occurring in the United States. A statement made by Admiral Dennis Blair, president Barrack Obama's director of national intelligence, states that "[h]igh value information came from [CIA] interrogations in which [CIA interrogation] methods were used and provided a deeper understanding of the al Qaeda organization that was attacking this country" (Disaster). Interrogators at Guantanamo Bay are from the CIA and help stop terrorist activities against the United States. According to the current CIA director Leon Panetta, "[i]mportant information was gathered from these detainees. [The CIA program] provided information that was acted upon" (Disaster). This intelligence gathered at Guantanamo Bay has been used to help the United States combat terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda in Iraq and Afghanistan and is needed to keep the United States safe. According to President Obama's homeland security advisor, John Brennan, "enhanced interrogation techniques ‘were necessary to keep America safe'." When asked, "[w]ould the U.S. be handicapped if the CIA was not, in fact, able to carry out these types of detention and debriefing activities? ‘[John Brennan replied] yes'." (Disaster). So, if the CIA is not able to interrogate detainees, as they do now, the United States would not be as safe. The closing of Guantanamo Bay would mean the CIA would not be able to interrogate detainees as they do now. As a result, the United States would not be as safe and would be more prone to a terrorist attack (Disaster). Former CIA director George Tenet, who was appointed by President Clinton, stated that "this program has saved lives. [George Tenet] knows we've disrupted plots. [George Tenet] knows this program alone is worth more than what the FBI, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Agency put together have been able to tell [the United States]" (Disaster). The interrogation of detainees at Guantanamo Bay has yielded information vital to the United States defense. The interrogation of detainees at Guantanamo Bay has been effective at uncovering many plots. According to former CIA inspector General John Helgerson, "interrogation has provided intelligence that has enabled the identification and apprehension of other terrorists … plots, the agency did not know about before Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other detainees were interrogated, included plans to…attack the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan; hijack aircraft to fly into Heathrow Airport…[and] hijack and fly an airplane into the tallest building in California in a west coast version of the World Trade Center attack" (Disaster). These plots would have killed hundreds or even thousands of innocent people. These are only three plots, but there have been many more plots uncovered through the enhanced interrogation of detainees at Guantanamo Bay (Disaster). Without these interrogations, these terroristic plots may have succeeded in their goal of death, destruction, and widespread panic. The United States government should not close Guantanamo Bay. The United States government will never know how many other plots terrorists have thought up of and how many lives are at stake. I didnt have enough room to put my sources so I'll put them on my next arguement.