“Guantanamo Bay – known as GITMO – doesn’t house middle-of-the-road, white-collar criminals. Instead, this detainee facility houses deadly terrorists, including 9-11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed,” said Kit Bond from Missouri, a senior Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

That’s absolutely right. While the government issues reports classifying military veterans and libertarians as “right-wing extremists,” the Obama administration continues to push for more legal rights, the relocation, and/or the release of suspected terrorists currently at Gitmo.

While some of the detainees have been cleared, there are still terrorists at Gitmo that would love to make their way into the US mainland or back to the Middle East somewhere. Obama seems to want to give in to their wishes too. Fortunately, there is stiff resistance in Congress not only from the reliable opposition but also from Democrats who are starting to realize that a foreign policy that emphasizes retreat and surrender will only make America less safe. Bond accuses Obama of employing a “ready, fire, aim” strategy when it comes to national security and I happen to agree. The ultimate question for foreign policy is “will it make America safer?” but it looks like Obama’s foreign policy decisions are not based on this criterion at all.

For example, how does talking to Iran, a country that recently stood by terrorist organizations, threatened to destroy Israel, and that is almost finished developing nuclear weapons, help America’s security? If we actually talk to Iran, are we willing to let them keep working on nukes during our negotiations? What concessions are we willing to give up to the Iranian regime?

Or with Chavez… what do we plan to do to increase our influence in the region and stem the tide of socialism? How do we persuade Chavez to stop buying so many weapons? How do we persuade him to stop his support of communist guerrillas in neighboring country Colombia? What concessions are we willing to give up to the Chavez regime?

Now, how does the relocation of terrorists to the US mainland make America safer? Or how would putting detainees through “terrorist rehab” make America safer? These are the questions that Obama must answer clearly before going forward with his agenda. Obama is overly ideological when it comes to these real, practical problems, regardless of what his PR office… err, I mean, the mainstream media says. I will close with another quote from Bond that hits it on the head:

“When it comes to national security decisions, I prefer aiming before shooting, which is why I keep calling on President Obama to tell us, the American people, how his plan to close Guantanamo will make our nation safer … I think the American people have a right to know exactly what the White House plans to do with these terrorists.”

-AG