Daines resolution calls for detention of ISIL terrorists at Guantanamo Bay

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) led a legislative effort on Thursday to detain Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/ISIS) terrorists who are captured by U.S. Special Forces at Guantanamo Bay.

Daines introduced a resolution calling for the detention of ISIL terrorists at Guantanamo Bay following news that U.S. forces had captured a leader of the terrorist group through Operation Inherent Resolve.

“Last week when I was at Guantanamo Bay I saw plenty of vacant cells,” Daines said. “Terrorists captured by U.S. forces belong in Guantanamo, a location that has played a pivotal role for collecting intelligence from detainees and keeping terrorists off the battlefield in the global war on terror. These dangerous individuals do not belong on U.S. soil, or in the custody of a nation that may allow them to return to the battlefield as we have seen before. We must ensure they don’t continue to spread radical Islam throughout the world, and Guantanamo Bay serves an integral purpose for just that.”

U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was among the resolution’s cosponsors.

“At a time when the Obama administration lacks a coherent strategy to defeat ISIL, it’s more important now than ever that we use all the tools at our disposal to fight terrorism,” Gardner said. “Instead of closing Guantanamo Bay, the administration should transfer detained ISIL fighters to the facility. This resolution paves the way to do just that, while preventing grants of new rights to terrorists.” 

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), another cosponsor of the resolution, said the Obama administration has had a “single-minded focus” on fulfilling a campaign pledge to close Guantanamo Bay.

“Our facilities at Guantanamo offer a secure, lawful and humane option for detaining terrorists, and the administration’s misguided ideological agenda should not foreclose its continued use,” Hatch said. “As we continue combat operations against the Islamic State, the Senate should again make it clear that Guantanamo and other facilities abroad offer the best alternatives for holding terrorists and collecting vital intelligence from them.” 

U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a cosponsor of the resolution, said that ISIS prisoners should be detained at Guantanamo Bay because they cannot be released back into Iraq, where they will return to the battlefield.

U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS), meanwhile, said that America faces unknown threats as it confronts the spread of IS.

“Guantanamo Bay is the safest and most suitable facility to house future detainees,” Roberts said. “The security and consequences of moving these and future terrorists and combatants to the mainland is unknown and is simply not worth the risk to American communities.”

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