Reaction to US moving Al-Qaida suspects to Cuban base

• published: 21 Jul 2015
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Washington DC - 28 Dec 1. Defence analyst Michael O'Hanlon walks down stairs past Christmas Tree 2. O'Hanlon reading book 3.SOUNDBITE (English) Michael O'Hanlon, defence analyst, Brookings Institution: "It's not American soil, which means we can finesse some of the questions about the rights these people would have to be accorded if brought into American territory." Guantanamo Base - FILE 4. Pan left from American flag to US military ship in waters near Guantanamo bay naval base, Cuba Washington DC - 28 Dec 5. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael O'Hanlon, defence analyst, Brookings Institution: "The host government has no say over what we do because the host government is Mr Castro and he's the one leader of a foreign country where we have American bases to whom we don't give a say in how we use the base on his land." Guantanamo Base - FILE 6. Wide of tents at Guantanamo Bay naval base used for Haitian refugees 7. Lookout tower at Guantanamo Naval base Washington DC - 28 Dec 8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Michael O'Hanlon, defence analyst, Brookings Institution: "He would be foolish to seem that he was actually on the side of Al Qaida because let's face it, Castro has a little better reputation in most of the other countries of the world than he does in the United States and that reputation can be helpful to him, helpful with trade, helpful with tourism and he doesn't want to jeopardize that by seeming to be complicit in the terrible tragedy of September 11 that no government around the world really tolerates or accepts as legitimate. So I think he may express a word here and there of opposition to the US military mission but he doesn't want to go so far to seem in cahoots with Osama Bin Laden." 9. Wide of tents on ground ready to be erected at Guantanamo Bay naval base Cuba 10. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael O'Hanlon, defence analyst, Brookings Institution: "We want higher security sites and we certainly want greater vigilance in case any Al Qaida operatives try to sneak onto the base and free their compatriots or undertake terrorist reprisal action against the US but I don't think that's going to be very hard either. This is a relatively isolated base, its relatively easy to defend in that sense. We've been trying to keep Cubans out of it for a long time and trying to keep Al Qaida operatives out therefore shouldn't be that much harder." Guantanamo Base - FILE 11. Tents at Guantanamo Naval Base Cuba STORYLINE: The Pentagon has announced plans to transfer captured Al Qaida and Taliban fighters to a US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in the coming weeks. The detainees are currently being held at a Marine base near Kandahar airport and on a U-S ship in the region. Michael O'Hanlon, a defence analyst at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC, says the Guantanamo Bay location is a good choice for the US military because of past experience hosting thousands of Haitian, Cuban and Kosovar refugees. He also says an important legal factor is that the base is not on American soil O'Hanlon says even though Fidel Castro might have objections to the detainees being held in his country, he is unlikely to publicly state them. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says it will take several weeks of preparations before the captured fighters will arrive at the base. The security will be much tighter than when the base last held refugees O'Hanlon says but he feels the US military is up to the task. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/72f70634cc40d0746223efe413329a6e Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork