Guantanamo Bay Divides '08 Candidates

June 19, 2007 — -- Promising to close the prison holding terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is a big applause line for Democratic presidential candidates. Just how to do it is a thorny thicket they haven't thoroughly explored.

For Republicans, who view fighting terrorism as a top issue in their presidential nomination fight, the divide is over whether to close the prison and how to extract information from detainees. Among the 10 announced Republican candidates, only Arizona Sen. John McCain and Texas Rep. Ron Paul favor closing the prison.

Guantanamo, a symbol of U.S. efforts to combat terrorism, is a critical part of what both political parties see as a defining issue facing the next president: how to repair international relations while continuing to battle terrorist plots.

Polls show that voters are evenly split on whether the government should be allowed to keep terrorism suspects at Guantanamo indefinitely without charging them, 44%-43%. Republicans support the policy (63%), and most Democrats (57%) are opposed.

"This is a highly partisan issue, like so much of things that relate to the war on terrorism and the war in Iraq," says Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center.

Foreigners picked up by U.S. military in searches for al-Qaeda terrorism suspects began arriving at Guantanamo in February 2002. Today, there are more than 380 foreigners being held there on suspicion of terrorism and awaiting trials.

Legislation in the Senate to close Guantanamo has won support from three of the eight Democratic candidates: New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd and Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden. Clinton and Dodd are co-sponsors of a bill by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

"In the eyes of the world, Guantanamo is ammunition for our enemies, and it is time to close Guantanamo and to deal with both the security and the legal challenges," Clinton said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in April.