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President Obama’s announcement that the government will send terrorism suspects from Guantanamo Bay to an Illinois prison raised questions and sparked protests Tuesday over whether the new lockup will pose a security risk.
In a letter to Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, top administration officials including Defense Secretary Robert Gates called the plan “part of the president’s aggressive posture in the fight against al-Qaeda.”
The decision to buy a nearly vacant state prison in Thomson, Ill., to house as many as 100 alleged terrorists is the latest step in Obama’s effort to close the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention center. The prison became a symbol for detainee abuses under George W. Bush.
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