Re-design? US requests $49 mn to renovate Gitmo instead of shutting down

[DeSwiss]

RussiaToday·Published on Mar 23, 2013

The Guantanamo Bay hunger strike has gone beyond the critical 45 day mark, when doctors say the body is deprived of nutrition. Officials at the detention center in Cuba have acknowledged more detainees are joining the protest over alleged mistreatment. This comes amid a Pentagon request for 49 million dollars to build a new prison building and carry out renovations - despite a 4 year-old promise to shut it down. Gayane Chichakyan has more.

[Cleita]

1. The Pentagon can request all they want. It doesn't mean they are

going to get it. Your headline is misleading. You should change "US requests" it to "Pentagon requests."

Otherwise, yes Gitmo is a disgrace.

[Unknown Beatle]

3. Unfortunately,

the Pentagon usually gets what it wants. They have money up the ass yet they still ask for more. A lot of times a lot of the money goes missing, probably lining pockets, but they still ask for more.

Military spending in all its myriad forms works out to represent 53.3% of total US federal spending. Source

Think about that for a second.

[Cleita]

4. That doesn't change the fact that the headline is misleading. n/t

[DeSwiss]

5. Not my headline, it's RT's. :-/ n/t

[Cleita]

6. My apologies. It's not entirely wrong just misleading.

If you don't know any better, it makes you believe the whole US government wants this when it's only the military.

[DeSwiss]

9. I understand your point....

...but I always post threads with the author's title as a standard practice. However, based upon the Pentagon's proposed use of these funds being primarily security related, I don't see how they can refuse it.

Right now they have 26 prisoners refusing to eat and 8 more being fed intravenously.

The whole situation was morally bankrupt from the start with it's kidnapping and torture. It's falling apart and we need to let it.

Continuing it only makes it worse.

- It stinks to high heaven.

[limpyhobbler]

2. du rec.

The gov't admits alot of these prisoners should be released, but they just can't figure out what to do with them.

[DeSwiss]

7. They can figure just fine.

They don't want to release them because they fear the repercussions of doing so that would inevitably come their way.

- Like most bullies it seems we can dish it out, but we can't take it.....

[limpyhobbler]

8. ah yes you're quite right.

And so is this quote from ms. Lebowitz.

[A Simple Game]

10. From what I can gather there are only 166 prisoners in Gitmo.

Seems like a lot of money to house 166 people.

Must be why we can't house the homeless in our own country.

[DeSwiss]

11. Nope it's not the money....

- I think it's the evil and the greed. And the lack of guts on the part of the American people because they live in fear but won't admit it......

[aquart]

12. They want to add tennis courts to get ready for bankers?

[dotymed]

13. $49 million plus huge "cost over-runs"..

Probably in a "no-bid" contract to Halliburton (or one of other 4-5 contractors who get ALL of the pentagon contracts) to "house" 166 "terrorists."

1) Saudi Arabia houses millions of "terrorists" for free and in style
2)cut social security, medicare/medicaid...but lets keep 166 middle eastern (no proof needed) "terrorists"
3) the last time (how long??) I saw the way "they" kept these "prisoners" it was on concrete pads with a canvass "roof" that they could hide from the intensity of the direct sunlight
4) pay Halliburton, et al.. $49 million + for these improvements then they will have one of their sub-contractors perform the work (very shabbily) for a very small percentage of that cost, then (of course) up-charge the pentagon million$ for "cost overruns" ensuring that many politicians also get wealthier in this scheme..
WHEN WILL WE STOP THE INSANITY?
I remember renovating military housing. it was a 5 year contract and many million$. at the end of 5 year$ this housing was already scheduled to be demolished and re-built. we did and it was. the newly cost plus remodeled housing was demolished within months of the expensive work..i have soooo many stories like this...
they seldom use Union labor at Ft. Campbell, Ky. They pay their workers approximately $9 an hour, no benefits. This is for for base security also. They have totally unarmed kids and retirees inspecting vehicles who want to enter the base. Can you imagine how much $$$ we pay the contractors to secure one of the most sensitive military bases in America? yet all of the security personnel look like wal-mart greeters....until the last 10 years, it was guarded by uniformed, heavily armed military personnell.....

[DeSwiss]

14. You ask: ''WHEN WILL WE STOP THE INSANITY?''

- I doubt that the insanity will ever stop until we stop applying the same ''solutions'' to the problems. It's time we evolved from the current system because it no longer serves us. And it is totally corrupted.....

[dotymed]

15. Agreed.

IMO and that of many others, capitalism, as said by another poster here, has defeated democracy, just as it did communism in Russia (former USSR). Capitalism has proven one of the most dangerous economic systems possible. When it is very heavily regulated, and obviously, put waaay after humanity and democracy, it has shown some promise. Unfortunately we are too weak to fight the greed that always threatens deregulation of this system. Most other progressive nations have done much better (for individuals) with capitalism than americans have. We have much in common with Russians it seems, when it is time to feed our baser instincts.
Much of the positive effects of capitalism were IMO, only realized because of the Marshall Plan after WWII. Given long enough, capitalism will create hell..