Down at Gitmo

WHEN most people think of the detention facility here, they conjure up images of “Camp X-Ray.” That was the makeshift facility-basically chain-link fence enclosures-where detainees were first held when brought here in 2002. The facility had once been used to house migrant criminals, and it was used for only four months for detainees before they were moved to newly built modern facilities. But pictures of Camp X-Ray were all over the press and still are used to illustrate Gitmo stories today, even though the spot has been overgrown with weeds for years.

That’s only one way in which Gitmo has a bad name. It has become a watchword for all that the Left abhors about the War on Terror. But it’s hard to see how the facility here could be improved. It certainly is no cause for scandal. Murderous fanatics who still believe in their extremist ideology and yearn to kill Americans are being kept from the battlefield and held in the only circumstances that make sense—namely, extremely secure ones.

About the Author

Rich Lowry

Rich Lowry is the editor in chief of National Review.

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WHEN most people think of the detention facility here, they conjure up images of “Camp X-Ray.” That was the makeshift facility-basically chain-link fence enclosures-where detainees were first held when brought here in 2002. The facility had once been used to house migrant criminals, and it was used for only four months for detainees before they were moved to newly built modern facilities. But pictures of Camp X-Ray were all over the press and still are used to illustrate Gitmo stories today, even though the spot has been overgrown with weeds for years.

That’s only one way in which Gitmo has a bad name. It has become a watchword for all that the Left abhors about the War on Terror. But it’s hard to see how the facility here could be improved. It certainly is no cause for scandal. Murderous fanatics who still believe in their extremist ideology and yearn to kill Americans are being kept from the battlefield and held in the only circumstances that make sense—namely, extremely secure ones.