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The New York Times has a major article about the prisons at the Guantanamo Naval Base on the eastern edge of Cuba that attempts to explain what is happening there and why President Obama has not been able to close the prison in the face of congressional opposition to bringing any of the prisoners into the US. One example: the military is required by law and decency to provide any medical care needed by the prisoners. Since they can’t be brought to the US under legislation passed by  Congress, they have to get the medical care at the base. Here is one outstanding example of waste from the Times article:

The military has tried to build up its medical capability at Guantanamo, with mixed results. Several years ago, when a detainee needed a stent placed in a coronary artery, the military spent $1 million on a mobile cardiac catheterization lab. The prisoner ended up refusing the procedure, and the unused equipment, packed up but stored outdoors, has since decayed, officials said.

Although prisoners were subject to obvious torture when they began arriving at the base after 9-11, 2001, efforts have been made to improve their lives and offer them something to do with so many idle hours in a hot, tropical climate with almost no recreational opportunities. Again, from the Times story:

A life-skills class that taught resume writing was once offered, but not enough detainees were interested, so it was replaced by lessons on using Microsoft Office, according to an officer in charge of the program.

Resume writing? Now, there’s a life skill that every terrorist should have, right?

The Times article points out the inelegant absurdity of having an impasse between the president and the Congress on what to do about the prison and the prisoners. The impasse, however, is the point: some members of Congress want to do anything they can to prevent prisoners from coming into the US and, in the process, also want to embarrass Obama by preventing him from keeping his campaign promise to close the prison. The administration’s effort to find a way around this have largely focused on transferring the lower level prisoners to foreign nations, something that has also stalled out when the nation’s refuse or change their minds.

The fact is, even though the Republicans only control one house of Congress, they have the ability to tie a presidents hands if they so choose. In the past, presidents and Congress made deals and Congress deferred to the fact that a president, after all, is elected by the whole nation.

In regard to the 1 million dollars in complex medical equipment mentioned above, that would obviously be totally ruined by leaving it stored outside. A complete waste, not only of taxpayers dollars, but of the potential to help people and save lives. This is not “inefficiency”, this is gross waste. Of course, one million dollars isn’t even a drop in the bucket where federal dollars are concerned, but there are many places across the US and around the world where such equipment could be used.

OPEN LINK TO THE TIMES ARTICLE (no subscription required)