Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld continues to defend the U.S. run detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, saying that it is a necessary part of the Bush administration's 'War on Terror' and that numerous reforms had been carried out since international scrutiny had been placed on the facility.
During a Defense Department briefing on Tuesday, Rumsfeld said, 'Arguably, no detention facility in the history of warfare has been more transparent or received more scrutiny than Guantanamo. The United States government, let alone the U.S. military, does not want to be in the position of holding suspected terrorists any longer than is absolutely necessary,' he said.
Rumsfeld denied that there were any plans to close down the facility any time soon despite international pressure and calls from Senators from both parties to do so. 'As long as there remains a need to keep terrorists from striking again, a facility (to detain them) will be necessary.'
The Secretary of Defense also attempted to defend the administration's policy of declaring those held at Guantanamo Bay as 'enemy combatants,' a status that denies them of many of the rights criminal defendants are entitled to under the U.S. Constitution.
'The problem is that, to a large extent, we are in unexplored territory with this unconventional and complex struggle against extremism,' Rumsfeld claimed. 'Traditional doctrines covering criminals and military prisoners do not apply well enough.'
Rumsfeld explained that in recent months, reforms have been made at Gitmo and the treatment of prisoners has improved. Prisoners are given every opportunity to pray five times a day as per Muslim tradition.
'In fact, at Guantanamo, the military spends more per meal for detainees to meet their religious dietary requirements than it spends for rations for U.S. troops,' he said.
'We are always looking for ways to improve our procedures. And, of course, we have been looking for better suggestions as to how to manage detainees who pose a lethal threat to the civilized world. And we have already implemented dozens of reforms.'
The question is, is it all enough to quell the international outrage that has developed over Gitmo?
