McMaster issues statement on transfer of detainees to Charleston
A.G. Henry McMaster
Published: November 4, 2009
Updated: November 4, 2009
South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster calls moving Guantanamo Bay detainees anywhere in the continental United States a “huge mistake”.
McMaster issued the statement today after Lt. Governor Andre Bauer asked the AG to look for a way to legally stop the possibility of those detainees being transferred to the Navy Brig in Charleston.
In the statement sent to News 2 Wednesday morning, McMaster says, “As South Carolina’s attorney general and as an American citizen, I will do everything I can to help prevent this potential disaster.”
Bauer’s request came in response to a Fox News report, which indicated Charleston is one of the top candidates to receive the prisoners. Charleston has been on the short list since President Barack set a January 22nd deadline to close GITMO.
In response to a request that he take action against the state getting terror detainees, Attorney General McMaster said, “Closing the terrorist facility at Guantanamo Bay and transferring dangerous detainees anywhere in the continental United States would be a huge mistake.
He says “As South Carolina’s attorney general and as an American citizen, I will do everything I can to help prevent this potential disaster.”
He adds: “But I can’t understand why anyone would be surprised by the news. Barack Obama announced his plans to close Guantanamo Bay during the presidential campaign. It hasn’t exactly been a secret.”
McMaster shifts the onus to the state’s congressional delegation. “Congress should have taken action on this issue long ago. National security is a federal issue. The United States Congress is the branch of government with the jurisdiction and the legal authority to stop the president from making unwise decisions that threaten the security of our nation.
“I urge our state’s congressional delegation to take decisive action. They should seek an immediate Act of Congress to stop President Obama from transferring Guantanamo Bay terrorists to South Carolina or to any other state on the American mainland,” says McMaster.
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