Sound Off: Do Prison, Interrogation Orders Make America Safer?

President Obama has signed executive orders that close the terrorist detainee camp at Guantanamo Bay, shut down secret CIA prisons, and end harsh interrogation techniques. The White House says it doesn’t know what it will do with the hundreds of detainees at those camps, some of whom were involved in the 9-11 attacks. Some could be released. The White House says the move makes America safer. What do you think? Do you feel safer by closing these camps and ending harsh interrogations? Email us:soundoff@old.kxly.com

Absolutely Not Safer! And what is the real plan? Media doesn’t seem to be telling the entire story! Obama is negotiating with other countries to move the prisoners to those countries. The way I understand it is that Obama has already reached a tentative agreement with Australia to house some of these prisoners. We will pay Australia to hold them for us. So what is the point of closing Guantanamo Bay? So he can say he accomplished something!!! -Phillip(Libby)

Why not put them in other prisons in all parts of the world and have the world share in this burden, Don’.t let the cat out of the bag, because the cat will be back to kill .more people in the name of there god. who ever that is. -Jane

America will be less safe, but America will be more honorable. There is always a cost to honor, and a time when the rules change. Is it more honorable to put thousands, maybe millions at risk, or to thwart danger at the cost of honor? Do you suppose radical threat to America cares about America’s honor?? Never the less, if we have no honor we diminish ourselves. -Howard(Cheney)

G. Bush murdered thousnds of innocent women and children in Iraq. G. Bush tortured many people in Gitmo and CIA detention centers. By doing these things he created thousands of enemies and terrorists, thus, making the U.S. LESS safe. Anything that President Obama can do to offset this damage will make us MORE safe. -John(St. Maries)

If those complaining feel that President Obama is so wrong in what he did than may they should have ran for president otherwise they need to stop their bitching and crying and start thinking about how much harm X President Bush did to this great country’s image as the rest of the world no Hates the U.S. more than ever because of Guantanamo Bay and the harsh interrogation techniques use by the CIA in secret on their prisoners. Because of what former President Bush and former VP Cheney authorizing such techniques its unsafe for any U.S. citizen to travel abroad even to Canada or Mexico, and especially to Mexico which has far less control of its borders than the U.S. does. If any of you think its not dangerous there than good luck that’s all I can say. BUT YOU REALLY NEED TO SHUT UP AND STOP YOUR CRYING!!!!! -Steve

I do like Obama but I do not like this decision. Keep the prisons but clean up our act to coincide with the accords of the Geneva Convention. -John(Post Falls)

Did it do any good did we get any were with them did they tell us any thing that will help. The CIA wont tell us any thing and that is good because they watch the news to find out. What we are doing, and were our troops are we don’t need spy’s they have the news and the internet. –Wayne

NO I DONT FEEL SAFER ! NOW IT SENDS THE MESSAGE TO OTHERS THT WE CAN BE BAD AN WE WONT GET ABUSED OR ARRESTEED IN AMERICA……………….THEY SLAP MY HAND AN SEND ME HOME PROABLY………. -John(Spokane)

Come on you Obama supporters. Who’s going to step up and offer to hold these suspects in their own home? I’m waiting. -Fran

It shows the world, that we are not like the bush administration showed us to be. We were hated around the world. I think that the world will look at OBama and see hope. The bush administration pushed for despair and retaliation. The world can see a better future. There will be those that think like the bush administration and still attack and push for total war. I see and hope for a better world where there is communication and betterment. -Michael

We think closing the camps & ending harsh interrogations may present a better image to the world with the possibility of increased respect & safety. There is an ‘escape’ clause in the declaration which allows Presidential discretion in dire circumstances. We feel that the Guantanamo detainees are prisoners of war and as such should be subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Our own soldiers are subject to the UCMJ, so why should prisoners of war be allowed the civilian liberties of being tried in a civil court? The Guantanamo detainees should be transferred to military prisons in the U.S. or…they should ALL be released…at 30,000 feet. –Pete(St. Maries)

I just saw some of the responses you had. Kill them and throw them to the sharks. They aren’t an endangered species. -Dave

I think that Obama is holding America to the high standards we should have been all along instead of where we have been. –Shannon

His decision may not help us in the short term but I think in the long run people in other countries will see that our decision to treat all people humanly will help. The children in other countries growing up now will see us as going back to our old ways. The way they were treated was inhumane and we should be ashamed of ourselves for it. that’s not what this country stands for. –Liz

Being a former military brat, and having military service involvement by several family members….absolutely it will make America safer. The 8-years of shame and the danger that our own troops was put in by the policies of the former administration has today come to an end. Justice, even for terrorist, will be the righteous way to go. -Donna(South Spokane)

We will see these people again, in lists of photos of terrorists who have attacked America in some gruesome future move. Obama’s move on Guantanamo assumes that NOBODY in the Bush administration gave this issue ANY THOUGHT AT ALL. This is more than a little unlikely. Well, Mr. Obama, you are now working on YOUR legacy, not George Bush’s. Good Luck. –Rick(Clarkston)

Yes, I have an answer. Our new President is as cowardly as Bill Clinton, his mentor. The prisoners there are so bad no other country wants them either? Fine. Line them up, shoot them all, close it up the next day. Problem solved! –Anonymous(Colbert)

The answer to your question is no. We are not safer now that President Obama is closing Gitmo. We are considered infidels by the radicals. How is this going to help? It makes us appear weak to them and will only encourage them to attempt to attack the US. I’ve read some of the responses on the World Newser sight and agree with many of them. This action by the president is very scary. I know he means well, but we will see in the end. And I feel truly sad for the people who think Bush is to blame for everything. Time to take responsibility for what happens from now on people. I don’t think that what happened at Gitmo was all the evil plans of Bush. Gitmo was there before him and the tactics used had been used before him too. –Cyndie(Idaho)

President Obama did the right thing by ordering the closure of Guantanamo. Where there is evidence to prosecute, that should be done in the U.S. If they are found guilty, they should face the penalty. If they are found not guilty, they should be sent back to their home. I also applaud Obama for ending our policy of torture. On these two issues, he is off to a very good start. We will not be less safe by releasing people who are not guilty of a crime. We will also send a message to the rest of the world that we can and will do the right thing. We should be an example of how freedom works, not an example of a tyrannical government. -Jan

It has already been proven that the “other measures” noted in the Army Manual have saved the U.S. from a number of attacks. When he release the prisoners and one of them kills another person, does that make him an assessor to murder? -Pat

Obama vowed to protect the safety of the American people. My belief is that he will live up to it. -Aaron

Here we go, all of you folks who voted for Obama. When another 9/11 happens on USA soil, we’ll know who to blame. -Molly(Hayden)

No, I do not feel safer, knowing that Obama is going to close these places. Everyone there was there for a good reason. As far as water-boarding goes, these animals that are interned there are committed to destroying America and anyone else who does not subscribe to their belief of the world domination of Islam. But, then again, maybe if the anointed one’s interrogators ask politely, they’ll tell us what we need to know to combat their comrades! -Charles

In answer to your question tonight, closing GITMO certainly doesn’t make us LESS safe. The practice of holding suspected [war] criminals without charge or trial violates everything we stand for, including the Geneva Convention. How can we expect to earn and hold the respect of other nations if we are willing to abrogate our principals in the treatment of detainees? -Mary Jo

They wouldn’t be there if they weren’t a threat–wake up people! -Nover

I don’t think the country will be any more or less safe with the Guantanamo Bay prison closing. I DO think that these people should be treated like any other criminal and tried in the Federal Court system in accordance with our laws. With our hesitance or debate to place them in a Federal Prison, we are allowing them to continue to terrorize us, simply with their reputations as terrorists. I would not have any issue with any of their trials occurring here in Spokane because I believe in the security of the USA and refuse to allow myself to become a “psychological victim” of these individuals. -Justin

I don’t think closing the prison does anything to make America Safer. That is ridiculous. If it were our troops they would just slaughter them unmercifully when they were done interrogating them, and interrogating them with “NO rules”. We are too “legalistic” and by the book, and it is causing way more problems than it is solving. Turning them loose in the Criminal justice system will just allow them to operate in and from our prison system on our home turf. As far as what to do with the detainees, after we are done with them, we should just execute them, or turn them loose for target practice. Considering we are dealing with rules of war and engagement, they could have just as easily been shot in the field as detained. From now on there will be just less people detained from this war field and more body counts, why detain them just to turn them loose on the USA. –Billie

How would it make us safer? What an absurd question. Will the terrorists respect us more for being nicer to them? Once again our government is reacting to one of the popular PC notions of the day before they’ve really thought it out. –Mike

The question should not be “do you feel safer?” but, “do you feel freer?” Yes, I feel freer. -Steve

Here is what the military thinks so far. Now that Barack Obama is President . . .”I am ready without reservation to carry out the orders he issues as Commander-in-chief.” -33% I will follow his orders, but remain concerned that his inexperience will get us into situations worse than those under Bush. -43% I am going to leave the military as soon as possible. Sorry, but I don’t trust him. -21% -James

Closing Gitmo is not a good plan. The people there are very dangerous criminals, who would like nothing more than to hurt and/or kill Americans. Is Obama ready to move all of them into his old Chicago neighborhood so all of his neighbors can feel safe? I don’t think so. Well, none of the rest of us want them in our states either. They do not deserve our rights. They are not Americans! They are terrorists. -Vicki

About as safe as that guy in the shark cage with the bars torn off. But if we do let them out, let’s send them to France. -Ann(Spokane Valley)

Thousands are losing their jobs everyday and Mr. Obama decided to sign an invitation for terrorism in the United States, instead of tackling the country’s economic crisis as promised. –Kevin(Colbert)

Most of the detainees at Guantanamo have sworn to kill Americans by any means and will do so as long as they live. Will releasing them make America safer? The answer is “NOT IN THEIR LIFETIME”. This egregious error will end up costing many American lives. Not even the countries from which they came will accept them back so how are we to distribute them? Our new President has made his first major mistake. -Jim

Obama knows what he is doing. I know he will do the right thing and think of America’s saftey first. -Desiree(Sagle)

If interrogation of a *known* terrorist yields information that saves an American life, then absolutely ! ! ! The Muslim culture has always been know for cruel and inhumane practices to its captives in any conflict. That would be world history, something not taught in American schools ! Or reported on by the liberal news media ! -Eric(Athol)

We must also remember the WTC and TV footage of what they do to our men and women when captured. Our brave solders are brutally tortured, raped, and murdered. In all fairness what happens at Guantanamo Bay is keeping us safe and a whole lot nicer than what they do. –Joshua(Newport)

What concerns me more than anything is that Obama has issued an unheard of number of 3 Executive Orders and a Directive within 2 days of taking office. What has happened to our checks and balances? Why is the Congress and the Senate being bypassed? Have we elected a King / Dictator instead of a President? -John

May as well let the 245 go home to their brothers,,, he told the rest of Al Qaeda yesterday they only have to sit back and relax for 16 months and the whole area is theirs again! What I really love is him telling the White House employees they have a wage freeze just one day after he blew $170 million on his party. Love ya man, just keep printing the money. -Bobby

President Obama’s actions today do not directly make me feel safer. However the direction he is setting where we respect the rights of everyone should eventually make us all safer by improving the image of the USA in the world. -Dave(Pullman)

This move does not make me feel safer, though neither does having liberals leading the executive and congressional branches of government. What is a country to do? -Ryan(Spokane Valley)

This makes no sense at all! Obama and his cronies have not thought this through! Some of the worst terrorists are in these camps! I do not feel the least bit secure about their “reflex action” to close the prison camps, especially Guantanamo, without some really well thought through alternatives!!! -Chuck

No, the current methods don’t improve security. That’s not to say that closing the prison facility at Guantanamo should mean cutting them all loose. The prisoners there who are guilty of crimes against the US still need to be prosecuted, as any criminal should. -Ann(Spokane)

I wonder if the ‘President’ believes that the freed prisoners will be more loyal to him after their release? Or, will he pat them on their heads and tell them to resume their lives as they were before capture. This is a dumb move that enforces our lack of safety from terrorists. -MJ

Yes. -Tim

Now because they wouldn’t have even known about the the Plot to blowup the Brooklyn Bridge if they had not water boarded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed . We can’t place nice with these people. They don’t adhere to any Geneva Convention. If Obama and his supporters are too glib to understand what will happen if we are not able to access actionable intelligence rapidly before the fact of an act happening……. Obama will lose the election in 2012. -Marcus

What a stupid idea! Close our military prison without plans for what is to happen to terrorists? Give me a break! Why do we not just invite them into our country and let them loose? These people were not in the uniform of any country. And they do not treat our citizens or military with any conventions. Get real people. There is a religious war going on. This is survival here. -Tim

This idiot you call the president has made the first of many hundreds of mistakes he will make. Taking an action with no idea of what to do with the prisoners is assine. He has just made us much more vulnerable and our safety is certainly not nearly as good as it was under Bush and his polices of the proper way to treat terrorist prisoners. Let me be the first to call for this jerks impeachment. -Bodie

It doesn’t matter. If we can’t do better than this the nation and species does not deserve to exist. -Nunia

If Obama feels so save why don’t he move them to D.C. so he can really keep a eye on them. I think he really messed up. -RB(Newman Lake)

How about Obama invite them to dwell in the White House, and invite them for tea, and ask them their plans and what their bosses’ names are? About as effective as kissing their feet before they wield that final knife thrust. -Jim(Thompson Falls)