Intel chief: Gitmo prison hurts more than it helps

WASHINGTON -- The detention center at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has to be closed because of the damage it has done to America's reputation and to its ability to achieve foreign policy goals, the top U.S. intelligence officer told a House panel Wednesday.

"Countries won't deal with us. Our popularity's down. We don't have blue chips to trade," national intelligence director Dennis Blair told the House Intelligence Committee.

In one of his first acts in office, President Obama signed an executive order to close the jail next year. The order also convened a task force to determine what to do with the roughly 250 suspected terrorists held there now and prisoners taken in the future.

The island jail, created by the Bush administration in 2002, has been criticized worldwide for allegations of abuse of prisoners and the confused legal status they have.

Nearly 800 prisoners have been imprisoned at Guantanamo; only a handful have been charged. Many have been released to their home countries or freed outright. More than a dozen Chinese Muslims have been ordered freed, but they have not been returned to their homes for fear they will be jailed and tortured there.

Blair also said al-Qaida is still hoping to pull off another attack on the United States that kills many people. U.S. intelligence believes there are al-Qaida sympathizers in the country, he said.

The most dangerous threat to the United States is weapons of mass destruction falling into the hands of terrorists, he said.

"It is people who are not deterrable getting hold of weapons that could cause a lot of deaths," Blair said.

One of the world's most notorious nuclear technology proliferators, Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan, was recently released from house arrest in Pakistan. Blair said that despite his release Khan remains under government restrictions that would prevent him from further proliferation. He did not specify what those restrictions are.

Attorney General Eric Holder, who visited the detention center Monday, said the facility should be closed even though it's well-run and professional. Closing Guantanamo, he said, "will not be an easy process."

"It's one we will do in a way that ensures that people are treated fairly and that the American people are kept safe," Holder said during a news conference Wednesday.

Obama selected Holder to lead the new administration's effort to close the detention facility within a year. Much of that time will be spent reviewing the individual case histories of the roughly 245 inmates, the attorney general said.

Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., who is trying to keep Guantanamo open, said he was encouraged by Holder's remarks.

"I believe as more time goes by there is a chance the administration will grow to realize that we need Gitmo and must keep it open. More time will allow facts to replace political rhetoric," said Inhofe, who is pushing legislation seeking to bar any Guantanamo detainees from coming to the U.S.

Holder said his visit to the site was instructive. He met with military officials and toured the facilities, including the court setting where military commissions were to be held until Obama suspended them.

"I did not witness any mistreatment of prisoners. I think, to the contrary, what I saw was a very conscious attempt by these guards to conduct themselves in an appropriate way," he said.

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Associated Press writer Devlin Barrett contributed to this report.