LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — Mayor Lisa Weakley can’t think of a single good reason the federal government should transfer detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the Army’s Fort Leavenworth in this city of 35,000.
She can, however, list many reasons why this community — even though it’s famed for its prisons and has the Defense Department’s only maximum-security facility — should not be their next home, starting with worries about the threat of terrorism.
“Is it really a bad thing not to want it in your backyard if you’ve got a really good, solid explanation?” she asks. “We have geographical challenges, security concerns and economic concerns. These are different types of prisoners than we’re used to.”