Disgraced veteran Allen West played a Constitutional expert on Fox News TV yesterday as he all but accused President Obama of treason for releasing Guantanamo Bay detainees. Host Neil Cavuto did not challenge either West’s assertions or his credentials.
West, a Fox News contributor, deliberately suggested that releasing the Guantanamo Bay detainees could result in a Charlie Hebdo-like massacre here. But West seemed even more intent on suggesting that President Obama would be complicit in any terrorism that would (likely) ensue.
WEST: Any President doesn’t have the constitutional authority to be unilaterally releasing these detainees from Gitmo. If you go to Article 1, Section 8, Clause 11, it clearly states that in matters of dealing with captures on land and sea, the Congress is the one that makes those rules.
When did West become a constitutional expert? According to his own bio, he never attended law school. West did, however, run afoul of military law for mistreating a prisoner during his stint in the Army. West paid a $5,000 fine and retired to avoid court martial.
West continued by suggesting that Obama is committing treason and/or is in cahoots with the terrorists:
WEST: So the president, who is leaning toward campaign promises and political ideology is really putting our national security at a higher risk…This administration is not only doing something that is unconstitutional based on a campaign promise, but is almost borderlining on providing aid and comfort to the enemy, and aiding and abetting and material support. …You’re replenishing them with fighters on the ground who can also be recruiters and trainers. …That makes no sense whatsoever.
…I don’t care how long it takes. If they end up staying in Gitmo for the rest of their lives, so be it. But we are showing abject weakness when we think that we’re showing benevolence.
By listening without challenge, Cavuto gave implicit credence to West’s views. However, people with more credibility have a completely different view. For example, this week Maj. Gen. Michael Lehnert (Retired) published an editorial in Politico Magazine called, “I Helped Create Gitmo. Now I Want It Shut Down.”
In it, Lehnert notes that it costs more than $3 million per prisoner a year to keep the detainees at Gitmo. Lehnert also outlines the “moral, legal, and strategic reasons” for transferring the detainees. He also says, “It is time for America to stop living in fear and to defeat terrorism with our most powerful weapon: American values.”
Watch it below, from yesterday’s Your World, via Media Matters.