Nev. senator tours Guantanamo prison
By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY Associated Press Writer
Posted: 05/15/2009 05:53:01 PM PDT
Updated: 05/15/2009 05:53:01 PM PDT
LAS VEGAS—Nevada Sen. John Ensign said Friday that he sees no need to
close the controversial prison at Guantanamo Bay until the war on terror
ends, but he acknowledged the detention center had damaged the U.S. image
abroad.
"After seeing it today, it is hard to imagine why we would ever think
about closing" the facility, Ensign told reporters by telephone after touring
the prison with three other senators.
The Republican said he was impressed by conditions of the prison housing
more than 200 military detainees who have not been charged with crimes.
He said average Americans would be "outraged because
the kind of treatment (detainees) get is certainly not only better than
anybody in an American prison, but they get better health care the average
American citizen does."
"Their food is better than the food that they fed us as senators and
staff that went down," he said.
But he said the prison had become "part of the negative image some have
of the United States."
Republicans in the Senate will propose several amendments next week
that push back against the Obama administration's plan to close the facility
by early next year, Ensign said.
He said he remains open to proposals for closing the prison, but "it's
got to be a really good, effective plan."
"We're dealing with people who would like to wipe out Americans. These
are having Charles Mansons times whatever factor ... these people are so
dangerous," Ensign said.
"Like any military conflict, it is permissible to hold people until
the military conflict is over," Ensign said, saying that it would be up
to military leaders to decide when that was. "Does anybody think this global
war on terror is over? It's not even close ... If these people get out
they're coming back to kill Americans and as many Americans as they can
kill."
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