What should be done about Guantanamo Bay?

[Cyndalie]

A few facts:

The Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp is a controversial[1] United States detention center operated by Joint Task Force Guantánamo since 2002 in Guantánamo Bay Naval Base, which is on the shore of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

From the 1970s onwards, the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base was used to house Cuban and Haitian refugees intercepted on the high seas.

Since October 7, 2001, when the current war in Afghanistan began, 775 detainees have been brought to Guantánamo. Of these, approximately 420 have been released without charge, with only one prisoner, David Hicks, being convicted of a crime.

As of May 2008, approximately 270 detainees remain.[10] More than a fifth are cleared for release but may have to wait months or years because U.S. officials are finding it increasingly difficult to persuade countries to accept them.

Of those still incarcerated, U.S. officials said they intend to eventually put 60 to 80 on trial and free the rest.

____

When we went to war in Afghanistan to try to find Osama Bin Laden and free the people from Taliban rule, these detainees were basically jihadists with no home country or cause. They were fighters to who ever would train and provide for them. For almost 8 years many have been held without trial or even accused of any crime.

Accusations of abuse (such as defacing the Qur'an) have been rampant. These detainees are still considered prisoners of war, but no country wants these people back so getting releasing them is just as much of a problem as keeping them. They have no rights, and many organizations such as Amnesty International have stood up for the human rights of these detainees.

So do we let them go, release them back to who ever will allow them into their countries, only for them to become terrorists again with more anger against the US than ever? Have we created some of our own worst enemies? Do you think this debacle (taking prisoners with no end in sight) is indicative of how the Bush Administration has run the war? Has Guantanamo Bay tarnished the U.S. traditions of liberty and justice and fair trial?

Obama plans to shut Guantanamo Bay down. Should the detainees be tried using a new US court system for these detainees - some where in between military courts and standard trials, or should they be tried as criminals in the US? Should they just be returned to the countries they were detained from and left for them to handle? Or should they be distributed around the world and resettled into other countries?
Or should we keep Guantanamo Bay open?