Montana town pleads for Gitmo detainees as economic buoy
Published: May 21, 2009
Updated 6 months ago
The town of Hardin, Montana, it would seem, holds the key to one of the day’s most perplexing political struggles: what to do with prisoners in the Guantanamo Bay military prison.
Hardin, home to about 3,400 people, is in the state’s poorest county. One of the reasons for its economic condition is an unoccupied 460-bed prison facility that cost $27 million to construct. Greg Smith, the town’s economic development director, told MSNBC host Keith Olbermann on Wednesday night that they would love nothing more than to become America’s new Guantanamo Bay.
However, Hardin’s plea is being blocked by Montana’s Democratic Senator, Max Baucus, who believes housing Gitmo prisoners in his state would pose a security risk to residents.
“Many local taxpayers are livid at Hardin officials,” noted Time. “‘It’s been a complete fiasco since the beginning, and I don’t see how they built it without any solid contracts,’ says Mike Carpata, a forester with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, as he shopped for reloading supplies at Lammer’s Trading Post, where locals and members of the Crow Tribe come to buy guns and ammo, beading supplies, or to sell for quick cash their saddles, buffalo robes and beaded-buckskin ceremonial costumes. But others remain supportive of the jail project — and the enterprise of the town’s administrators. The store’s fourth-generation owner, George Lammers, noting the drastic difference between subtropical, humid Gitmo and dry, wintry Hardin, says, ‘This place would be torture for some of those boys.’ But, he allows, ‘I think it would be great for all the law enforcement people to be here. It would help our housing market. Our city fathers wanted the economic benefits, but I guess they didn’t foresee the political controversies.’”
“Well, they’re going to be in here; we have a secure lockup,” Smith told Olbermann. “The next part is, really the outside issue, how do you protect it? … If you look around, we’re pretty flat. I think it’d be easy to protect. If you can’t protect 3,400 people in Hardin, Montana, we’ve got larger problems in this country.”
“The simplicity of your logic is overwhelming and correct,” said Olbermann.
This video is from MSNBC’s Countdown, broadcast May 20, 2009.
Download video via RawReplay.com
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An unoccupied prison in the United States? How appalling.
Hey Keith, I’ll take a couple of those terrorists. I could use some help around the place. I’m just not afraid.
Let Colorado have a bidding war with this Montana town over who gets to imprison them.
Send them to Colorado’s Federal Prisons. We aren’t afraid of those scary, tortured to insanity, nearly helpless inmates.
Coloradoans are tough enough to deal with them.
And of course all of you should
SIGN THE PETITION Calling for a Special Prosecutor
for those Bushies that Tortured In Our Name
http://ANGRYVOTERS.ORG
over 250,000 so far signed
Join us and call yourself a Patriot
.
The funny thing is that California is complaining about overcrowding in their prisons, send 400 or so to Montana. Also the reason they voted against Obama in this one was that “scare ad” that was put out to scare the politicians into not voting for it. Obama is correct that he inherited this mess from Bush and company. They shouldn’t have made this place in the first place, let alone torture.
Problem solved, move on to the next issue.
The problem is that the Federal govts first reaction would be “oh we cant do that” and then try to find some moronic reason not to.
Here is a mayor, BEGGING the federal govt to dump terrorists in his town, I say, go for it!!
If I lived in Montana Id worry more about the terrorists in wooden shacks who are my neighbors, lol.
S*D
One dumb congress person, unaware of this empty full security prison, wants to take umteen years to build one in “his” district. Like they own their districts.
While we are at it, why don’t we just invade ourselves and rebuild America under a Marshall Plan? All our hard earned tax dollars would stay here that way.
And we could get rid of the curse now used in the mid-east to curse an enemy “may the united states bring you democracy and peace“.