Politics & Government

Rep. Moran: Worst-Of-The Worst Guantanamo Detainees Are Not Devout Muslims

And the most popular reading material at the facility is the erotic "50 Shades of Grey" series.

The "worst-of-the-worst" detainees at Guantanamo Bay aren't living as devout Muslims, according to U.S. Rep. Jim Moran (D-8th), who recently traveled to the detention facility July 26, with Northern Virginia's Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10th). Moran was told by guards that the 16 terrorists in solitary confinement do not celebrate Ramadan, do not ask to read the Koran and that their favorite reading material is the erotic "50 Shades of Grey" series.   

"One of the guards there told me that - in the presence of others who nodded - that the most popular book they asked for is this '50 Shades of Grey,' or something, series. So, they are not who they purport to be. But they are the manipulators," said Moran to Patch. "There's enough evidence to indicate that they truly were the people responsible for the (U.S.S.) Cole bombing and for 9-11 and for a lot of other atrocities. It's the ones who got manipulated by them who are the ones who are suffering, who we can't charge. Yet, we continue to confine them at $2.7 million per year per detainee."

Wolf, the chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee, which funds the Bureau of Prisons and Department of Justice, wants detainees to be tried by military tribunals at Guantanamo. 

“I remain firmly opposed to closing Guantanamo Bay," said Wolf in a statement after the trip. "These detainees – even those cleared by the administration for release to other countries for detention and monitoring – are dangerous."

Moran said there is a possible compromise: civil trials would be conducted at Guantanamo.  

Moran wants the facility to close and for the detainees to be tried in the United States. 

"The ones who should be punished should be incarcerated. They should be prosecuted, they should be given at least life imprisonment, if not executed," said Moran. "Whether we like it or not it is a system of justice that has defined America for 200 years, and I don't think we need to be discarding it just for political convenience." 

The United States has cleared 86 of the detainees for release, but diplomatic and political hurdles are keeping them in custody. 

"It just doesn't make sense that 86 of the 150 young people that were brought there 12 years ago have been cleared for release," said Moran. "They should be released to their countries of origin."

Moran said the president should use his executive authority to close the facility. 

"He's not running again. He should just do what he knows is right," said Moran. "His concern should be the moral and ethical principles of the United States and its security around the world and not the Democratic party."

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