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Greitens changes tone, still supports closing Gitmo

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – President Barack Obama is attempting to keep one of his biggest campaign promises that he made in 2008 as his final term is coming to an end. He has sought to close the federal prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba renowned for holding terrorists and other extradited and extracted enemies of the state, but for the past seven years, he has failed due to staunch Republican opposition. 

While that Republican opposition, including from three of the four candidates for the Republican gubernatorial nomination has not changed, nonprofit organizer Eric Greitens’ position on the matter is much more vague. He has changed his position since 2009 while he served as a professor and public policy fellow at the University of Missouri. Greitens advocated in support of Obama’s plan to close the prison because “[i]t’s important for America to demonstrate to the world an unflinching commitment to combating terrorism and an equally strong commitment to upholding justice.”

However, last month, Greitens posted on his Facebook page that he said that the process of closing the prison is being handled the wrong way, but did not reverse his position on closing the base.

Greitens
Greitens

“There should be a day where we’ve brought all these terrorists to justice, tried and convicted them, and Gitmo is no longer needed. But until that day, it’s crucial we keep it open,” Greitens said. “This President hasn’t given us any other option. Enemy combatants should be tried in military tribunals, convicted, and killed if they’ve committed acts of terrorism against our country… I’m the only candidate in this race who has served in the war against radical Islamic terrorism, and under no circumstances do I support bringing those responsible for these heinous acts to American soil.”

Democratic candidate candidate for U.S. Senate Jason Kander has also had to nuance his position on the base. Today he opposes its closure, but while a House member in 2009, he voted against a resolution demanding it remain open. 

“As someone who served in Afghanistan, I didn’t think a non-binding resolution in the Missouri Legislature was the best way to keep us safe from terrorists,” Kander said in a statement. “As I have said, I don’t think we should close the Guantanamo Bay prison.”

His Republican opponent U.S. Senator Roy Blunt has always opposed its closure.

The reaction to closing Guantanamo is much different from the rest of the field of republican gubernatorial candidates.

Obama
Obama

“Once again, President Obama is putting us at risk, releasing radical Islamic terrorists to foreign countries and treating them as mere criminals by seeking to move them to domestic prisons,” said former Speaker Catherine Hanaway. “As Governor, I will keep Missouri safe and strong by fighting any and all attempts from the federal government to bring terrorist prisoners to Missouri, and I will instruct my administration not to cooperate with any federal attempt to house radical Islamic terrorists in Missouri.”

“This is a reckless plan that will put Americans in danger. President Obama apparently is more concerned about America’s perception in the world than he is about American security,” Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder said in a statement Monday. “The Guantanamo detainees are not typical criminals. They are ideologically committed killers – terrorists in the truest sense… The president’s first responsibility is to protect American life and liberty. Closing Guantanamo ensures the opposite effect.”

Obama’s early plans to close Guantanamo included moving the terrorists onto American mainland soil, as it does now. Some have speculated many of those enemy combatant would be sent to Fort Leavenworth prison just across the Missouri state line in Kansas. 

Michael Hafner, a spokesman for the John Brunner campaign, said in a statement that Brunner opposed Greitens’ take on the matter.

“Brunner stands in complete opposition to Eric Greitens who has stood in strong and unequivocal support of President Obama in closing Guantanamo Bay. We categorically disagree with Mr. Greitens’s statement: “Closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay is a complex and difficult challenge, but also a necessary step.” Brunner’s campaign has also called the closing the base the “Obama-Greitens plan”.

This most recent development may hinder Greitens’ attempts to prove his conservatism, something he has had to combat almost since he entered the race. Although he wrote an editorial for FOX News explaining why he was no longer a Democrat, he has had to face heat for attending the Democratic National Convention to hear Obama speak when he was running for President, and that he was initially courted to run for office as a Democrat years ago.

Updated: 2/25/16 10:30 a.m.: Added comments from Kander