Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

When the phrase is heard "Defensive Spending Cuts", this mental picture erupts in our minds of our National Security being at risk....war ships sitting in harbors, the latest technological warfare put on hold, and our standing army being at all time record lows.
 Yet, as I believe in having an ample defensive budget....pruning some of the military budget is not a bad idea......such as Guantanamo Bay Cuba....or "Gitmo" as it is "lovingly called".

 Gitmo is the "poster child" for terrorists who target the U.S. and its own interests. The Department of Defense has stated: " The closing of Gitmo is a national security imperative."

 The rationale of fear to the closing of this establishment is that the 166 detainees of Gitmo would endanger public safety.
 During the Bush administration, Gitmo hit an all time high of 779 detainees. Over 500 of these detainees have been released to 52 different countries. To operate Gitmo, the cost is $ 246,187, 974 dollars annually, or a little under 1.6 million dollars per detainee....compared to $34000 dollars per detainee in federal prisons throughout the nation.
 Since 9/11, there have been 494 convictions in our federal courts on the mainland on the charges of terrorism....in 36 different states and the district of Columbia.
 Currently, there are approximately 355 terrorist suspects incarcerated in the U.S., none have escaped and there is no evidence of any targeted revenge attacks reported.

 Jon McCain, democrats, and numerous others have strongly encouraged the closing of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Colin Powell was quoted: " I would close Guantanamo Bay...not tomorrow...but this afternoon."

 Defensive Spending cuts isn't necessarily always a bad thing, and saving the taxpayers money can be a good thing...all things remaining equal.

 Close it...and let's put an end to this unnecessary military spending.