Hoppy Kercheval

Opponents of the Guantanamo Bay prison for suspected terrorists cheered when President Obama announced on his second day in office that he would close Gitmo within a year.

Now that the cheering has died down, reality is settling in. If we aren’t going to keep the prisoners at Gitmo, where do we put them?

I say we bring them here.

Now, wait. Hear me out on this.

There are about 240 prisoners who will eventually leave Gitmo. They have to go somewhere until we figure out what kind of judicial process they will go through. Then, those legal proceedings have to run their course.

Some of them—perhaps most—will be convicted and will have to remain locked up.

And as long as the war on terror continues we’ll need a secure place to lock up prisoners.

Good luck finding another country willing to take them. Many of our allies have avoided the fight in Iraq so why would they want to get involved now. So there’s a reasonable chance they will end up on U.S. soil.

California and Kansas have already said they don’t want them. Utah Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz said he “would fight that every step of the way” if the government wanted to use his state.

West Virginia has an opportunity to say to the Obama Administration, “Nobody wants these prisoners, but we will take them. You just have to meet our terms.”

Those terms would include the federal government putting up the money to expand the new federal prison under construction in McDowell County, or add on to the federal prison in Preston County, or construct a separate facility entirely.

Washington should pay top dollar to make sure it’s the most secure facility possible, including big salaries for the most qualified guards. I would give first dibs to Iraq and Afghan war veterans.

But that’s not all.

The state should also require the federal government PAY West Virginia handsomely to house the prisoners. If nobody else will take the prisoners and we will, that has value.

How much? I had in mind billion a year to the state treasury, but I’m just making this up as I go along. President Obama just unveiled his .4 trillion budget, and we are handing out billions to banks and car companies, so I suspect Washington can find billion someplace for national security.

But I’m willing to negotiate.

Finally, West Virginia is a state with a deep tradition of answering the call when the country’s security is at stake. We can say that, once again, we’re at the front of the line.

Is there a risk to holding dangerous terrorists here? Yes, but probably only a small one. Our prisons now hold all manner of malefactor. It’s extremely rare that one breaks out and harms a citizen.

Having West Virginia as the destination when the country needed a secure haven is not new.

Remember, for years we had a plan where in case of nuclear attack all the Washington politicians would be whisked to a bunker under the Greenbrier.

So, now we’ll take the terrorists instead of the politicians.

Even trade.