WASHINGON— This week Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, sent letters to Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, Secretary of State John Kerry, and National Security Advisor Susan Rice demanding clear assurances that President Obama has will not hand over the U.S. Naval Installation at Guantanamo Bay to Cuba. Read the letters alt="(NULL)" “In his news conference Monday, Secretary Carter assured reporters that ‘we intend to hold on to it’, in response to questions about the President’s intentions toward GTMO. His answer was less equivocal than his Administration colleagues. Still, as we learned with the Taliban 5 investigation, even seemingly direct statements are subject to reinterpretation by White House lawyers.
“The Navy Base at Guantanamo Bay is vital. I see no argument whatsoever for its abandonment being in our national security interest.” The Naval Installation at Guantanamo Bay is a strategically-situated deepwater port. It provides an ideal location from which to service, stage, and project U.S. Military Forces, secure the air and maritime approaches to the United States, undertake counternarcotics efforts, and provide disaster relief.
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