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Obama makes wrong case for closing Guantanamo

This is a view of an unused communal cellblock in Camp 6, at the U.S. Navy base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016, in this photo approved for release by the U.S. military.
This is a view of an unused communal cellblock in Camp 6, at the U.S. Navy base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016, in this photo approved for release by the U.S. military. Walter Michot wmichot@miamiherald.com

There is a legal principle known as "negative pregnant." That is when one's argument to support a contention actually proves the opposite.

President Obama accomplished that feat with his reasoning to close Guantanamo. His contention is that Guantanamo so angers ISIS that it should be closed to appease them and take away their incentive and recruitment basis to attack us.

Guantanamo prison did not exist before extremists attacked us. Appeasement was the policy of making concessions to the dictatorial powers in order to avoid conflict with Germany after World War I.

History records the failure of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's exercise of appeasement with Germany. The very reason Guantanamo is so offensive to the enemy is an argument to keep it open.

Surrendering to the wishes of the enemy is not a winning tactic. Maybe they would rather their captured combatants be incarcerated in Polk County, Fla., under the supervision of Sheriff Grady Judd or in Maricopa County, Arizona, under the supervision of Sheriff Arpaio. After spending some time in the hospitality of those two sheriffs, getting back to Guantanamo would be a vacation.

D. Merrill Adams

Palmetto

This story was originally published March 5, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Obama makes wrong case for closing Guantanamo ."

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