Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Republicans embrace Guantanamo lockup

|
|
 
  
Published: Sept. 24, 2007 at 10:56 AM

WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- The U.S. lockup at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is unlikely to be closed in 2008 now that many Republicans are praising its use.

Earlier this year, even President George W. Bush and his top advisers spoke of closing the facility, which has been a target of international criticism.

But the latest attempt in Congress to shutter it faces defeat as many Republicans embrace Guantanamo as a symbol of the fight against terrorism, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

"It's a Republican litmus test this year," said Sen. Chuck Hagel, of Nebraska, one of the few Republican lawmakers calling for Guantanamo to be closed.

"The Republican Party has won two elections on the issue of fear and terrorism" and its going to try again, Hagel said.

In recent years, the Bush administration has slowly reduced the number of detainees held at Guantanamo to the 340 being held there now, the Times reported.

Topics: Chuck Hagel, George Bush, George W. Bush
© 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Notable deaths of 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee AmfAR Cinema Against AIDS gala
Indianapolis 500 Presidential Medal of Freedom Memorial Day around the nation
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 27
Snigdha Nandipati of San Diego wins Finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee
View Caption
Snigdha Nandipati of San Diego, California watches confetti rain down as she wins the two-day Scripps National Spelling Bee championship, May 31, 2012, in National Harbor, Maryland. Nandipati successfully spelled the word .* guetapens *, meaning to lure or ambush. UPI/Mike Theiler
fark
★☆☆☆☆ Michigan is an uninhabitable swamp. Do not settle
As part of the Queen's jubilee celebrations, Top Gear presenter James May has built a contraption...
New, comprehensive data on all the reasons why people break-up. Bad news for Farkers: drinking too...
There is finally a car that's more dangerous to rear-end than a Ford Pinto
Here is the full list of 2012 hurricane names. Wait... Hurricane Kirk?
Gold-plated vibrator worth $4,000 stolen from sex shop. "Au, yes ... Au, YES, YES" (with sorta-Not...