Obama detainees pledge raises concerns in South Carolina

James Rosen | McClatchy Newspapers • Published January 05, 2009

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WASHINGTON — South Carolina lawmakers are mobilizing against the possible transfer of terrorist suspects from the Guantanamo Bay military prison to the Charleston naval brig under President-elect Barack Obama’s pledge to close the controversial U.S. facility in Cuba.

Rep. Henry Brown, a Hanahan Republican whose 1st Congressional District includes the Consolidated Naval Brig, introduced a bill Wednesday that would block the use of federal funds to move Guantanamo detainees to Charleston.

"Bringing these extremely dangerous war criminals, deemed too high of a threat to be sent home, would add an unnecessary terrorist threat to our community," Brown said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Seneca Republican who played a leading role in establishing military tribunals at Guantanamo, also opposes holding any or all of its 262 remaining detainees in the Charleston brig.

"It doesn't make sense to hold them in an urban center like Charleston," Graham said. "We should recognize that where they are detained will automatically become a terrorist target."

Obama in recent days has said that fulfilling his campaign vow to shut down the Guantanamo Bay prison will be an early priority after he takes office Jan. 20.

"I have said repeatedly that I intend to close Guantanamo, and I will follow through on that," Obama told CBS News. "I have said repeatedly that America doesn't torture, and I am going to make sure that we don't torture. Those (steps) are part and parcel of an effort to regain America's moral stature in the world."

Brad Berenson, a former White House lawyer under Bush who worked with Obama on the Harvard Law Review almost two decades ago, said the new president will likely come to appreciate the many legal and logistical complexities of closing Guantanamo.

"During the campaign, it may have been easy to criticize the Guantanamo detentions at a high level of generality," Berenson said. "But once elected, the president has to answer the question of what to do with specific people about whom we know specific things. What seemed simple before (taking office) may seem a lot harder."