Pendleton discounts Guantanamo detainee report

By: MARK WALKER - Staff Writer | Saturday, March 31, 2007 12:37 AM PDT ∞

NORTH COUNTY ---- A suggestion from U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter that the possible closure of a military prison at Guantanamo Bay could result in suspected terrorists being shipped to Camp Pendleton was refuted by a base spokesman Friday.

The base brig is not properly configured or equipped to take terrorist detainees should the Bush administration and Congress adopt a proposal to close the facility in Cuba, Lt. Curtis Williamson said.

Williamson also noted in a written statement that the brig is slated for closure soon, with its inmate population set for transfer to the brig at north San Diego's Miramar Marine Corps Air Station.

"Headquarters Marine Corps has not officially tasked the Camp Pendleton brig, nor has anyone on this installation been told about any possible considerations relating to Guantanamo Bay detainees," Williamson said in the statement.

In testimony before Congress on Thursday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates called for legislation to eventually close the Guantanamo facility that has been used to hold suspected terrorists since the attacks of Sept. 11.

That same day, Hunter, R-El Cajon and the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, released a list of 17 bases around the country that he said could be in line to take the 358 prisoners at Guantanamo if the facility is shuttered. His list included Camp Pendleton and Miramar.

Hunter opposes closing Guantanamo, saying that moving prisoners to facilities within the U.S. could create new terror targets and "potentially endanger thousands of American civilians."

Williamson said in his statement that taking Guantanamo inmates would not only require substantial changes to that base's brig, it would also mandate "organizational structure changes, training and the requisite funding."

In May 2005, the Defense Department called for the eventual closure of Pendleton's brig and transfer of those duties to Miramar to create what would be called a Southwest Joint Regional Correctional Facility. The recommendation came in the most recent round of nationwide base closures and realignments.

The consolidation plan includes transferring the corrections centers at California's Edwards Air Force Base and Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, adding as many as 87 military positions and 34 civilian jobs at Miramar. Edwards was on the list released by Hunter, who could not be reached for comment Friday.

A spokesman at the public affairs office at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station said no one who could answer questions about the issue was available.

A precise date for closing Camp Pendleton's brig and the other two bases could not be immediately ascertained.

Hunter's list also cited the Camp Lejeune brig at the Marine Corps' major East Coast base in North Carolina as a possible home for terror detainees if Guantanamo is shut down.

Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.

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