Military Times: John Kelly shares many Republicans’ position on the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. For three years prior to his retirement last winter, the Marine Corps general oversaw operations at the controversial detention facility where, despite President Barack Obama’s determination to close it, dozens of alleged wartime combatants and notable terror suspects remain incarcerated.
As the head of U.S. Southern Command, Kelly’s first and only four-star assignment, he was prepared to carry out a directive to shut down the prison complex. At the same time, the general made no secret of the fact that he believed the president’s goal was misguided. “They’re detainees, not prisoners,” Kelly told Military Times back in January, during one of multiple interviews and less formal on-the-record exchanges as his 45-year career came to a close. “The lifestyle they live in Guantanamo is — they can't simply be put in a prison in the United States.
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