by Ian Essling

Created on: June 14, 2007   Last Updated: September 09, 2008

Guantanamo Bay is vital for the survival of our country. Each captured terrorist imprisoned there is one less threat to our country, and one less extremist that is out there ready to strap a bomb to his body and blow up innocent people.

We are at war with a force of people whose sole mission is to destroy our country and our way of life. During wartime, it is acceptable (in fact, necessary) to take prisoners.

The lives of American citizens are the responsibility of the US Government. Putting terrorists in Guantanamo saves American lives, and thus, I have no problem with it existing. I'm not concerned about my tax dollars being spent to keep Guantanamo running. I'd rather that the money be spent there, protecting our country, than lining the pocket of yet another corrupt member of the House of Representatives.

If we close Guantanamo, what happens to the terrorists we capture? Are we supposed to just kill them outright? Well, then we would be no better then they are. We can't just catch them and then let them go, because then they are back on the battlefield and back trying to kill Americans. Guantanamo is the solution, and it needs to remain open and running as long as there are extremists out there trying to annihilate our nation.

Honestly, we treat the prisoners down there much better than the terrorists treat the prisoners they take. They aren't starved, they are allowed to pray, and they do not have to endure daily beatings. If Guantanamo was really the gulag it is portrayed to be, then the prisoners would be locked away in solitary rock-walled cells with no light, no water, no books, no food and a pig. The terrible atrocities you hear on the news about Guantanamo are not even close to accurate; the whole Koran in the toilet' debacle (that cost many people across the world their lives when Muslims rioted) was false information and completely fabricated. We are Americans; we are not butchers and we are not savages. We don't abuse these people, even though many of them would not hesitate to kill as many of us as they could if given the chance.

Quite frankly, despite the fact that we obey the Geneva Conventions when dealing with this prisoners, we need to remember that the men imprisoned in the Bay do not deserve the rights enjoyed by citizens of this country, because they are not Americans; they are the enemy, soldiers in a war who are fighting to destroy everything we believe in, and they were caught while trying to kill or help kill American citizens. They are prisoners of war, and Guantanamo Bay is one of the most important fronts of the war on terror.

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