Sen. Lindsey Graham Wants to Put Detainees Slated for Release Into DHS Limbo

March 10, 2010  |  Posted by Danielle Belton

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham has been in the news a lot lately about his work with the White House trying to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay. He's saying "close it" but let's keep the military commissions and keep holding people without charge or trial. Now he's suggesting that Homeland Security take over the detainees slated for release. He's got tons of ideas to close Guantanamo. All of them bad.

According to an interview with The Hill, Graham says "released detainees should be transferred to the Department of Homeland Security until they can be sent to another country." What the article doesn't mention is the "released detainees" Graham is referring to have already won their court cases, were deemed not a threat and should be released as soon as possible. They should NOT be sent to yet another prison where they will sit for even longer waiting on the DHS to decide whether or not an innocent man should be set free. These individuals don't pose a threat and Graham's suggestion of putting cleared detainees in the hands of Homeland Security doesn't address the REAL problem -- that these detainees need to be freed.

Adding further insult, Graham, and his horrible policy ideas are all over the press as the White House continues to negotiate with him. And if President Obama buys into any of this "compromise" to finally close the prison in Guantanamo Bay he'll just be capitulating to the fear-mongering wing of the Republican Party who wants indefinite detention and failed military commissions, while at the same time gaining no new votes to close Guantanamo. Graham, for whatever his intentions, is dealing with a Republican Party that is by-and-large FOR waterboarding, FOR Gitmo and FOR indefinite detention. It's Gitmo stays open or nothing. The White House has to realize that any compromise with Graham would be both short-sighted and fruitless.

Don't believe me? Just take a look at what Graham's colleagues are saying about his special negotiating time with the White House:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell: "When a foreign national terrorist is captured in the United States like the Christmas bomber, or overseas—he should be sent to Guantánamo, detained there, interrogated there, and the case adjudicated there. They should be treated as military prisoners, not like U.S. citizens."

Republican Rep. Lamar Smith: "Guantánamo Bay is best equipped for the detention and prosecution of terrorists, not a prison inside the U.S."

Rep. Pete Hoekstra (Mich.), the senior Republican on the House intelligence committee: "I think it’s crazy to be negotiating with the White House on this ... Lindsey didn’t want the detainees in South Carolina when it was under consideration."

Michael Steel, a spokesperson for House Republican Leader John Boehner: “Our focus is keeping dangerous terrorists from being brought to this country, where they will have the same rights as American citizens."

Liz Cheney’s group, Keep America Safe: 'We are concerned by reports that this will be part of a deal to close Guantanamo Bay and bring terrorists onto US soil," a statement sent over by the group says. "We continue to call on the President to reverse his decision to close the facility."

"I’m getting a lot of grief," Sen. Graham admitted to Bob Schieffer, host of CBS News' "Face the Nation." And he's going to keep getting grief. Graham can't get the votes to close Gitmo no matter how many backwards, unconstitutional Bush-Cheney era policies he keeps in place. Right wingers want Gitmo. They've been clear about this. Any compromise with Graham is a setup for failure. It's better to get rid of the Bush-Cheney National Security mindset, the indefinite detention and release prisoners who are deemed not a threat AND close Gitmo, rather than play "let's make a really bad deal" with Graham.

Said blogger Spencer Ackerman on this same subject:

The White House can surely cave on its plan to try KSM in civilian court, but it’s doubtful Graham can actually deliver on his end of the deal. Greg Sargent asked around GOP circles and found that Graham has practically no levers of GOP authority supporting the deal, whether inside government or outside.

This might be the most unsurprising aspect of the whole prospective deal. Graham hasn’t been able to bring over any significant GOP support for a climate bill. Rather than bring Republicans along or even provide the administration cover, Graham himself has earned rebuke from his party. That might be admirable from a progressive perspective on principle. But Graham is asking the administration to compromise its principles in exchange for delivering votes that he shows no sign of being able to deliver. Why would any administration take this deal?

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