Alarms over detainees fail to stir Fort Leavenworth

A community that could soon find itself at the center of a brewing partisan battle over the future of the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is unfazed by Democratic vows to close the facility and move the prisoners to the United States.

Since last week, House Armed Services ranking member Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., has been sounding an alarm that Democrats want to "import dangerous terrorists into American communities" and asserting that Fort Leavenworth, Kan., tops a Democratic list of 17 "potential relocation points for terror suspects."

Although Democrats say they are still exploring the issue and have not committed to designating any alternative detention sites, the Army base is home to the military's only domestic maximum-security prison, making it a likely relocation spot for some of the nearly 400 terrorist suspects at Guantanamo.

Freshman Democratic Rep. Nancy Boyda said in a telephone interview from her district this week that the issue had not come up as she toured eastern Kansas during the first few days of the spring recess. Another local official said the area -- which also has a state correctional facility and a maximum-security federal penitentiary -- was accustomed to high-profile prisoners.

"I'm not sure it will really create a big stir," said Penelope Lonergan, Leavenworth County's Democratic chairwoman. Prisons, she added, are the area's "primary industry."

Greg Madsen, president of the Leavenworth-Lansing Area Chamber of Commerce, said his group was reviewing the issue and had no immediate comment. But he added, "We are a prison-friendly town and do support our local penitentiaries."

As the issue percolates inside the Beltway, Boyda, a member of the Armed Services Committee, said she is discussing the matter with Fort Leavenworth commanders. Integrating detainees into the existing Army prison would be a challenge, Boyda acknowledged, but she added that the base would be up to the task. "Whatever mission they're given, they're going to do and they're going to do well," she said.

But she also observed that commanders are not seeking out the new mission for the base. "They actively pursue some missions. And so I advocate for some missions for them," Boyda said. "They have not asked me to advocate for this."

Should congressional Democrats start to push hard to close Guantanamo, any transfer of prisoners to Leavenworth could become a campaign issue for Boyda, who narrowly upset Republican Rep. Jim Ryun, in November. Ryun, who plans to launch a campaign to reclaim his seat in 2008, "may try to capitalize on this with his supporters," said Don Haider-Markel, an associate professor of political science at the University of Kansas.

But Haider-Markel dismissed the idea that the Guantanamo issue could be the linchpin of a Ryun victory. Possible closure of Guantanamo Bay has generated only a "minimal amount of interest" in Leavenworth because many in the area view it only as a "side topic" and something unlikely to happen, he said.

The fate of Guantanamo could be decided in the next several months, as some House Democrats maneuver to use the fiscal 2008 Defense appropriations bill as a vehicle to close the detention facility.

Rep. James Moran, D-Va., a member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, is reviewing the issue and said recently that he is unwavering in his commitment to close the facility, which he said harms the United States' reputation around the world.

But Moran acknowledged that Republicans, many of whom are resolute against closing Guantanamo, could ultimately stand in their way. "There's no predictability in these things," he said.