Washington – A leading Senate Democrat said Sunday the United States needs to move toward shutting down the military prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
“This has become the greatest propaganda tool that exists for recruiting of terrorists around the world. And it is unnecessary to be in that position,” said Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del.
A Pentagon report released Friday detailed incidents in which U.S. guards at Guantanamo desecrated the Koran.
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, GOP Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, plans hearings this month on the treatment of the foreign terrorism suspects at the prison camp.
Biden, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, proposed that an independent commission take a look at Guantanamo and make recommendations.
There are about 540 detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
