Obama’s policies endanger Americans

Despite President Barack Obama’s attempts to reassure the American people about national security, his policies speak louder than his words. Trying to close the terrorist detention facility at Guantanamo Bay has not made America safer. There were more attempted terrorist attacks in 2009 than in any year since 9-11.

As commander in chief, the president is responsible for protecting the American people. Unfortunately, many of President Obama’s decisions have put the American people at greater risk.

{mosads}On his second day in office, President Obama announced a plan to close Gitmo and release or transfer more than 200 of the “worst of the worst” terrorist suspects. Many of the terrorists have already been released or transferred to terror-supporting countries, including Yemen.

The president is fully aware of the grave risk his ill-advised campaign promise poses to the American people. Responding to a question about the possibility that released detainees will return to terrorism, Reuters reported that President Obama admitted: “Can we guarantee that they’re not going to try to participate in another attack? No.”

But there is one way to guarantee detainees will not return to terrorist activities: Keep them at Guantanamo Bay!

We know that former Gitmo detainees often return to terrorism. The Pentagon recently reported that 20 percent of released Gitmo terrorists have returned to plotting attacks against Americans. And those are just the ones we know. For example, two former Gitmo detainees in Yemen are suspected of organizing the Christmas Day plot to bomb a trans-Atlantic flight to Detroit.

The administration’s decision to prosecute terrorists in federal civilian court continues the trend of weakening national security. Bringing terrorists into the criminal justice system limits our ability to interrogate them and get intelligence that might prevent attacks and save lives.

The Christmas Day bomber, Abdulmutallab, told FBI agents that he was one of many terrorists planning attacks against America. But rather than continuing to interrogate him as a terrorist, the FBI read Abdulmutallab his Miranda rights, giving him the “right to remain silent.” Not surprisingly, he’s no longer cooperating with investigators. Our ability to gather critical intelligence about pending attacks has been lost.

Additionally, trying terrorists in civilian courts gives them the same rights as citizens, making it harder for prosecutors to obtain a conviction. Terrorists should be treated as enemies of war, not common criminals. They should be tried in military commissions at Guantanamo Bay.

Military commissions are better equipped to handle cases involving sensitive national security information. Civilian trials run the risk of disclosing U.S. intelligence sources and methods. That’s what happened during the trials of the World Trade Center bombing and the African Embassy bombings. U.S. intelligence that had to be disclosed to the defendants was passed on, causing intelligence sources to dry up.

In 2009, it wasn’t a judge who made sensitive national security information available to al Qaeda; it was the president! The Obama administration released highly sensitive memos detailing interrogation tactics used against terrorists. The formerly classified Office of Legal Counsel opinions detailed the outermost limits of techniques used during interrogations. The release of this information gave terrorists what they need to know to anticipate, train for and resist future interrogations.

Besides giving terrorists a “how to” on resisting interrogation tactics, the Obama administration wants to repeal the REAL ID Act, which helps prevent terrorists from obtaining legitimate forms of identification. According to the 9/11 Commission, all but one of the 9/11 hijackers acquired some form of a U.S. identification document. This assisted the hijackers in ultimately boarding commercial flights.

Following the investigation into the attacks, the 9/11 Commission recommended that the federal government set standards for the issuance of forms of identification, including driver’s licenses. In response, Congress enacted the REAL ID Act.

Unfortunately, President Obama has called for the repeal of REAL ID, despite the loophole it would create for terrorists to once again obtain valid forms of identification.

Finally, the Obama administration has refused to enforce our nation’s immigration laws. The administration placed limits on the use of current provisions under which state and local law enforcement officials are trained to help enforce federal immigration laws.

Without the help of local law enforcement officials, we miss opportunities to save lives. Just two days before 9/11, a Maryland state trooper pulled over Ziad Jarrah — an illegal immigrant who had overstayed his business visa — for speeding. The trooper had no idea about Jarrah’s illegal immigration status. Two days later, Jarrah helped hijack United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania en route to D.C.

The terrorist threat has not diminished — just ask the 288 innocent passengers aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day.

The president’s most solemn responsibility is to protect American lives. Unfortunately, rather than strengthening national security, the policies of this administration put the American people at greater risk.

Smith is the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee.