Though I do not live in the Standish area these days, you can understand my concern when I learned that the Standish City Council is convening an emergency meeting tonight to approve the resolution to welcome (if that's truly the appropriate word) 200-plus GITMO Detainees to U.S. soil; specifically to fill the vacancies that are, or will be, at the Standish Maximum Security Prison.  This after the citizens of Standish met with you on Friday (October 16th) to insist that you not approve such a resolution.  It would seem apparent to most casual observers at this point that considerable pressure is being placed on you from "above."  While we the people might not know for sure just whom is applying that pressure, the history of this resolution would suggest that the arm-twisting is being done as directly as possible by the current presidential administration.

I am not sure if you are aware of this, but the current Secretary of Defense has been less-than-forthcoming with his responses to reasonable requests for pertinent information so that local and state officials can fully assess the potential dangers of relocating terrorists onto American soil.  Now, as a military veteran, I am well aware of the concept of "need to know," but I firmly believe that this is one of those situations where we do not have all of the information that we need to know in order to make a properly informed decision.  (And this from an administration that promised greater levels of transparency than we have become accustomed to.)  In other words, local officials will not be briefed on what they're getting into until they're already in it.

Much has been said of the military tribunals that have been held regarding these detainees, but I don't believe that all of the facts are public knowledge.  "Military Tribunal" is a civilianized term for "Court Martial," and these captured terrorists are being tried in such courts for a reason.  The trial of a captured al-Qaeda terrorist often involves the handling of highly classified information (up to Top Secret in some cases) that the non-military American court system just simply isn't equipped to properly handle.  However, the American Civil Liberties Union is insistent that these terrorists can be afforded the same rights as United States citizens.  It isn't that the ACLU is ignorant; it's just that they know so much that simply isn't so.

Nor should you believe any promises of jobs that are related to this resolution.  The truth is that Standish Max will become a military facility, because DoD, as a matter of policy, will not entrust the handling of captured enemy fighters to mere state corrections officers.  What will happen, rather, is that Standish will - in very short order - become a military facility.  Now that may bring a bunch of soldiers, and their paychecks, into Standish and the surrounding community, but do not for one second believe that this will bring many good-paying jobs in.

The ugly truth of relocating Guantanamo prisoners to American soil isn't whether something disastrous will happen here, but instead it will be a matter of when and how long.

I must urge you to seriously reconsider approval of this measure.  For the safety of America, this resolution should be defeated.

Sincerely and Respectfully,

Kevin Rex Heine