Obama once again promised to close Guantanamo Bay last week, citing its high operating cost as a factor. Just how high? $150 million a year—or $900,000 per inmate. That's compared to $60,000 to $70,000 for an inmate in a super-max prison. And military officials are now saying they need $170 million more to improve the living conditions for troops stationed at the camp. But with the sequester cutting into so many other government services, the high sticker price of Gitmo could actually be the ace up Obama's sleeve in convincing his opponents in Congress to finally shut the facility down, Reuters reports.
The costs of a single Guantanamo inmate could keep public tours of the White House running for 12 weeks. Or fund Meals on Wheels in seven states. Both have had budgets slashed by sequestration. But critics say it's too dangerous to risk until a better alternative is proposed. "Such a plan ... must include a proposal for what to do with the detainees at Guantanamo who are too dangerous to release and whom we are not able to prosecute," House Armed Services Committee Chair Buck McKeon wrote in an op-ed for USA Today this week. "Until a better solution is offered, at Guantanamo they must stay." (More Guantanamo Bay stories.)
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