Parkinson remains opposed to moving detainees to Kansas

? Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson repeated his opposition Wednesday to any plans by the Obama administration to relocate suspected terrorists from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Fort Leavenworth.

Parkinson said it is too early to revamp the state’s security plans based on news reports that the White House is considering Kansas and a state prison in Michigan to house the detainees.

“I’m not willing to accept that they are going to come to Fort Leavenworth,” Parkinson said.

Parkinson, a Democrat, took a swipe at former President George W. Bush’s administration in responding to questions about the future of detainee operations.

“This is not a problem that the Obama administration created, it’s a problem the Obama administration inherited,” Parkinson said. “There is no good solution.”

Still, Parkinson said moving 229 suspects to the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks in Kansas doesn’t solve the problem and he hopes the White House finds another option. He said the prison is functioning well in its role as the military’s only maximum-security facility and is not prepared to handle detainees.

Moving any or all of those being housed at Guantanamo would require moving the U.S. inmates to other locations. Parkinson said he hopes the White House comes to a decision that doesn’t involve Kansas. He has been speaking with Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, as well as officials in the Obama administration, about the detainee issue in recent days.

“Any talk is speculative. It’s a very tough problem,” Parkinson said, adding that there were a variety of options under consideration, including sending detainees to multiple locations or one site that would have confinement and courtroom facilities.

Along with the prison, Fort Leavenworth is home of the Army’s Command and General Staff College, where thousands of U.S. and foreign officers are educated each year. Post officials have declined to comment about the detainee issue, referring all questions to the Pentagon and White House.

Also on Wednesday, the state’s entire congressional delegation signed a letter to Obama inviting him to come see Fort Leavenworth firsthand before making any decision about the detainees. They also suggest he visit Guantanamo to view how those operations are conducted.

“We implore you to go personally, and to give great pause to what it would mean for a community like Leavenworth to accept something similar,” the delegation wrote.

The letter notes that no member of the delegation has been briefed by the administration about moving detainees to Kansas.

State security plans are adequate for the present and future threats, but should the detainees be assigned to Kansas, there would need to be “quite a robust plan” for protecting the Army installation and the surrounding communities, the governor said.

Fort Leavenworth was established in 1827, with the city of Leavenworth founded in 1854. The county is home to a federal and state prison and population of nearly 75,000 residents.