For Gitmo's detainees, no place to go

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By S.A. Miller

His state's senior U.S. senator, Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, voted last month to approve the money to shut down Guantanamo.

Mr. Durbin was among six senators - all Democrats - to support the funding, which Mr. Obama requested as part of a roughly $100 billion supplemental spending bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan now nearing passage.

Mr. Obama now will have to look for the Guantanamo money in the regular appropriations bill that Democratic leaders hope to finish by September - just four months before his deadline to shut down the camp.

But a House Appropriations subcommittee taking up the fiscal 2010 spending bill Thursday voted to include restrictions on releasing or transferring Guantanamo detainees and omitted $60 million that Mr. Obama requested.

The other two governors whose U.S. senators voted to fund the president's plan also gave cool receptions to the prospect of accepting Guantanamo detainees.

Rhode Island Gov. Donald L. Carcieri, a Republican, said he unequivocally opposed the idea of bringing detainees to his state. Both of the state's U.S. senators, Democrats Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, supported the president's request.

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver, a Democrat, did not take a position because the state was an unlikely detainee destination, spokesman Troy Price said.

"We have no federal prisons, so I'm not sure that it would be possible to transfer prisoners here," he said.

The administration has not publicly identified where it wants to relocate the detainees, but even speculation about facilities has been met with swift disapproval from local officials.

Among the most often mentioned sites are three in Virginia - the detention center for federal inmates in Alexandria, the Norfolk Navy Brig and the Marine Corps Base at Quantico.

The candidates in the Virginia governor's race sharply criticized suggestions of detainee relocation to their state.

Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, who also is chairman of the Democratic National Committee, stopped short of endorsing the proposal.

"He supports Obama's plan to close Guantanamo in a timely fashion, and has every confidence in the Marines and the Navy to handle whatever comes their way," Kaine spokesman Gordon Hickey said.

A move to the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., also mentioned as a destination, got an unequivocal "no" from Gov. Mark Parkinson, a Democrat.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, had "no comment" when asked about whether he wanted Guantanamo Bay prisoners brought to his state, despite reports that Marine Corps' Camp Pendleton in Southern California is under consideration.

Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said the governor would not stake a position until the White House presents a detailed plan.

An Associated Press poll released Wednesday showed that 47 percent of adults approve of closing Guantanamo, while 47 percent disapprove. The divide follows party lines, with most Democrats approving, most Republicans disapproving and independents evenly split.