GOP candidate: Keep Gitmo open

WASHINGTON, June 28 (UPI) -- A GOP presidential candidate has urged U.S. President Bush to keep Guantanamo Bay operating.

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, said in a statement that he had sent a letter to the president on June 22 "urging him to continue detaining dangerous terrorists at the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba."

"It is my view that Guantanamo serves an essential national security function," Hunter said. "The military has reviewed the situation of every detainee at Guantanamo, and determined that, if released, they would continue to pose a threat of rejoining al-Qaida or the Taliban.

"The danger that these detainees pose is indisputable," Hunter wrote. "The intelligence community has confirmed that a sizable number of detainees released from Guantanamo rejoined hostilities in Afghanistan and were either killed or captured on the battlefield.

"As a result, detainee operations at Guantanamo must continue. The United States government has a duty to the American people not to release those who would return to the fight and pose a threat to Americans or our coalition partners. Moreover, there is no practical alternative to Guantanamo," the congressman wrote.

The Bush administration says that its policy of detaining terror suspects for an indefinite period is essential to prevent them from using their experience to recruit, train and motivate new waves of jihadi terrorists in their home countries.