Commander Kirk S. Lippold the commander of the USS Cole when it was attacked by terrorists in 2000 voiced strong opposition Saturday to the possibility of housing Guantanamo Bay prisoners in the Alexandria jail.
“Terrorists should not be housed and tried in the dense urban environment of Alexandria,” Commander Kirk S. Lippold said. “It defies common sense.”
Lippold met with Alexandria Mayor William Euille on Friday to discuss the implications of bringing the Guantanamo Bay detainees to the city. Lippold said he believed this was not a “not in my backyard” issue, but rather a public safety issue. Part of the concern is over the proximity of the Alexandria jail and courthouse to surrounding commercial offices, condominiums, and residential areas.
“Unlike when the terrorists Zacarais Moussaoui and the American Taliban, John Walker Lindh (Johnny Taliban), were jailed and tried, the area surrounding the Jail and Court House is now completely developed and populated with thousands of permanent residents and office workers,” Lippold said. “We cannot bring terrorists like Abd Al-Nashiri to Alexandria. I know firsthand the damage that he can cause.”
Al-Nashiri planned the Oct. 12, 2000 attack that sent a boat loaded with explosives slamming into the destroyer USS Cole, killing 17 sailors and injuring more than three dozen others. Al-Nashiri was captured in 2002 and is being held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay.
The topic of moving prisoners from Guantanamo Bay to Alexandria heated up in the Commonwealth of Virginia after President Barack Obama issued an executive order to close the prison by January 2010. Moussaoui, who was convicted for his involvement in the 9/11 attacks, stood trial at the federal courthouse in Alexandria in 2006.
Virginia legislators have introduced a bill that would prohibit Guantanamo Bay prisoners from being transferred to federal prisons or military bases in the commonwealth. We will see who wins the battle between Virginia’s state’s rights and Obama’s federal government. My bet is on Obama and the liberal courts.
Periodically I will provide information on former guests at GTMO. Below are some facts about an “enemy combatant” MULLAH DADULLAH
“Terrorists should not be housed and tried in the dense urban environment of Alexandria,” Commander Kirk S. Lippold said. “It defies common sense.”
Lippold met with Alexandria Mayor William Euille on Friday to discuss the implications of bringing the Guantanamo Bay detainees to the city. Lippold said he believed this was not a “not in my backyard” issue, but rather a public safety issue. Part of the concern is over the proximity of the Alexandria jail and courthouse to surrounding commercial offices, condominiums, and residential areas.
“Unlike when the terrorists Zacarais Moussaoui and the American Taliban, John Walker Lindh (Johnny Taliban), were jailed and tried, the area surrounding the Jail and Court House is now completely developed and populated with thousands of permanent residents and office workers,” Lippold said. “We cannot bring terrorists like Abd Al-Nashiri to Alexandria. I know firsthand the damage that he can cause.”
Al-Nashiri planned the Oct. 12, 2000 attack that sent a boat loaded with explosives slamming into the destroyer USS Cole, killing 17 sailors and injuring more than three dozen others. Al-Nashiri was captured in 2002 and is being held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay.
The topic of moving prisoners from Guantanamo Bay to Alexandria heated up in the Commonwealth of Virginia after President Barack Obama issued an executive order to close the prison by January 2010. Moussaoui, who was convicted for his involvement in the 9/11 attacks, stood trial at the federal courthouse in Alexandria in 2006.
Virginia legislators have introduced a bill that would prohibit Guantanamo Bay prisoners from being transferred to federal prisons or military bases in the commonwealth. We will see who wins the battle between Virginia’s state’s rights and Obama’s federal government. My bet is on Obama and the liberal courts.
Periodically I will provide information on former guests at GTMO. Below are some facts about an “enemy combatant” MULLAH DADULLAH
- Former GTMO prisoner
- The last mission I reported on for the military
- Killed 12 May 2007 in firefight with U.S. SOF & Special Boat Service (SBS), in Helmand Province, after he left his "sanctuary" for a meeting with fellow commanders, in southern Afghanistan.
- Taliban's senior military commander until his death in 2007
- He was a Pashtun from the Kakar tribe of Kalai-Kakaran village in Uruzgan province of Afghanistan. He also had a home in Alajilga, a border village in Kandahar province
- Lost a leg when fighting with the Mujahideen against Soviet occupation in the 1980s
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