Close GITMO for Veterans Day

As Veterans Day approaches, I think it’s a good time to pay tribute to the troops. For this tribute, however, I propose something novel. Instead of post-traumatic-stress inducing fireworks and parades let’s actually listen to what the veterans are saying and incorporate it into our public policy. It’s so crazy it just might work.

The first veteran I’d like to honor is retired Air Force colonel Morris Davis. Col. Davis was the chief prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay. He retired in 2007 because he refused to use evidence that came from torture or cruel and unusual punishment. Two weeks ago he publicly shared his thoughts on Guantanamo:

“No court has jurisdiction over Guantanamo …. Some senior civilian Bush administration officials chose Guantanamo to interrogate detainees because they thought it’s a law-free zone where we can unlawfully … handle a very small number of cases. We have turned our backs on the law and created what we believed was a place outside the law’s reach.”

Col Davis has a suggestion on what do to: Close the camp and prosecute torture.

The second veteran I’d like to honor is Brig. Gen. Greg Zanetti, the former deputy commander of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. He thinks it’s too expensive. According to a recent Obama Administration report, it costs U.S. tax payers about $800,000 per inmate per year. That’s about 30 times the cost of detaining them in the continental U.S. Gen. Zanetti calls it inefficient and expensive.

So, to honor the troops on Veterans Day, I propose we shut down Guantanamo. We will be more fiscally sound and more law abiding without sacrificing our national security. It’s a tribute worthy of this great nation.