Salt Lake Tribune: National security should be above Utah politics

Op-ed by Brigadier General David R. Irvine, USA (Ret.).

In Utah, two Republican candidates for the open U.S. Senate seat held by Bob Bennett are outdoing each other with tough-on-terror campaign rhetoric. Tim Bridgewater and Mike Lee have both resisted federal criminal trials for suspected terrorists, nstead joining a congressional chorus calling for trial of the Guantanamo prisoners by military commissions.

This is part of a broader Republican attack on President Obama’s pledge to lose the prison, which has also involved efforts by Republicans to cut off any funding necessary to close the facility or move the prisoners. While Bridgewater and Lee are aiming their tough talk at the Republican tea-party base, a far larger audience is paying closer attention, and these stakes are more crucial than a Senate seat.