Alaskan Gitmo

President Obama has promised to close the Guantanimo Bay facility by January, 2010. But there seems to be a problem. Where is he going to put the detainees? So far. Colorado, Kansas and Michigan have been considered. But has anyone considered Alaska?

Alaska would be the perfect place for the new home of the prisoners. 25 miles from Deadhorse, AK, would be a perfect location. Deadhorse has the largest oil field in the United States. Perhaps some of the detainees could help out there. North of Deadhorse is the Arctic Ocean. South, the nearest town is Coldfoot, AK, which is approximately 250 miles from Deadhorse. There is only one road that goes into Deadhorse, and that is the Dalton Highway, which runs north and south. According to WWW.DEADHORSEALASKA.COM, in order to get to remote drilling spots, ice roads are built in the winter to prevent damage to the environment, however, a road could be constructed to get to the facility for use by the employees.

The number of employees would be minimal. A large number of guards would not be required. Even if someone were to escape, where would he go? He couldn't go north, even in the winter time when the water is frozen, because of the freezing temperatures. The longest night is 54 days, 22 hours, 51 minutes, according to WWW.ABSOLUTEASTRONOMY.COM/TOPICS/DEADHORSE, ALASKA, beginning in late November and lasting until mid-January. The average high temperature in Deadhorse in November is 2 degrees F., and the average low is -10 degrees F. In January, the average high is -11 degrees F., and the average low is -23 degrees F. The official lowest wind chill temperature was -102 degrees F., on Jan. 28, 1989 with the air temperature being an unbelievable -54 degrees F., and wind speed of 36 mph (taken from a chart in wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadhorse,_Alaska

Being part of the area known as "the land of the midnight sun", with the longest day being 63 days, 23 hours, 40 minutes starting in mid to late May, and continuing until mid to late July (absoluteastronomy.com). The average high in May is 27 degrees F., and the average low is 16 degrees F. In July, the average high is 54 degrees F., and average low is 37 degrees F. (Wikipedia.org). Even if an escape did occur, grizzly and polar bears call this area home.

All of the detainees are in Guantamino Bay are there for a reason, whether it be the planning, endorsing, or committing terrorist actions against the United States and its allies. Some people may think that moving them to Alaska is too extreme, but so is terrorism. It is not the responsibility of the United States to make these prisoners as comfortable as possible. They are criminals and should be treated as such.