Admiral Mullen and Guantanamo

Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen was on ABC News This Week when the topic came around to Guantanamo. Here’s one snippet from the transcript that caught my eye (my emphasis):

STEPHANOPOULOS: The Republican leader of the Senate was quoted in The New York Times today saying there’s actually a very slim possibility now that the Congress will allow Guantanamo to close. If he’s right, and Guantanamo doesn’t close, what would that mean for your military mission?

MULLEN: Well, the concern I’ve had about Guantanamo in these wars is it has been a symbol, and one which has been a recruiting symbol for those extremists and jihadists who would fight us. So and I think that centers — you know, that’s the heart of the concern for Guantanamo’s continued existence, in which I spoke to a few years ago, the need to close it.

Admiral Mullen makes it sounds like that his only concern about Guantanamo is that it’s a jihadist recruiting symbol. While that’s certainly a concern, I would hope his bigger concern is that we are imprisoning people without habeas corpus, trial, or often any solid evidence. Admiral Mullen’s remarks seem to imply that what we’re doing at Guantanamo would be okay as long as it is done in secret. I hope that’s not the case.

America’s justice system is strong enough to handle terrorist trials. What remains to be seen is whether our cases against these individuals are as strong.