Rayburn Responds to Supreme Court Guantanamo Case

As the U.S Supreme Court deliberates over whether the Guantanamo prisoners have any constitutional right to challenge their detainment in non-military courts, Congressional candidate and retired Maj. Gen. Bentley Rayburn weighed in on the issue, and expressed concern that people are not seeing the bigger picture.
According to Rayburn, "The prisoners that are currently detained in Guantanamo are not American citizens. They are enemies of the United States captured in hostile territory. Therefore they should not automatically be granted the same constitutional rights as you or I."

This seems to be the issue at the heart of the debate. Since the United States is the sole overseer of the prison, which is also on US territory, should US law apply to the combatants being held Guantanamo?

From a military commander's standpoint, Rayburn pointed out the potential problems that could come from such a ruling, "If we start to grant these types of rights to foreign combatants then it creates a legal precedent that will, in time, spiral out of control. Where does it stop? If they are granted these rights, do we then have our troops read them Miranda Rights every time we capture one of these terrorists in battle?"

Rayburn raises a significant issue as to whether this concession of rights would hamper the efforts of the troops. Such a ruling would create a legal and bureaucratic nightmare. With potentially endless appeals and legal intervention, the tangled web of red tape would be endless, and would create yet another unnecessary burden on the U.S. taxpayer.

As to what rights the prisoners should have Rayburn said, "[The United States] has agreed on specific rights laid out in the Geneva Convention. Despite the enemy's refusal to adhere to these rights, they are in place and should be followed."

By giving the detainees the same legal status as U.S. prisoners, the government risks impeding the flow of information coming from Guatanamo. Rayburn concluded, "As long as we are at war, they are the bad guys. The main right they have is to give us the information they are hiding."