Jul 31, 2015 4 min read

Editorial voices from newspapers around the country as compiled by the Associated Press:

One of President Obama’s first acts in office was to promise he would close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay. Six years later, the facility is still open, although the population dwindled to 116, 52 of whom are cleared for transfer if security conditions can be satisfied.

Part of the problem has been congressional obstructionism, but Obama also is to blame. Rather than veto defense authorization bills that limited his ability to transfer inmates, he has signed them, while raising questions about whether they intruded on his constitutional authority. And he hasn’t pressed the Defense Department hard enough to approve the release and resettlement of detainees who aren’t deemed a threat.

Now, the White House said it is preparing to present Congress with a new plan to close the facility. That effort is welcome, but it will fully succeed only if the administration recognizes the problem with Guantanamo isn’t just its location, but the prison has become a symbol of a denial of due process.

We agree with Obama that Guantanamo has been a stain on America’s reputation and a recruiting tool for terrorists. The administration should make good on its threat to veto a new National Defense Authorization Act if it makes it harder to release detainees or to shut down the prison. But even if the administration wins congressional support for closing the facility and accelerating the release of some detainees, it shouldn’t be content with simply relocating the rest and continuing to hold them without charge or trial.

The heroin trade today clearly ranks among the most lucrative growth industries in our region, state and nation. The fundamental law of supply and demand demonstrates the industry, if left unchecked, will not stop growing anytime soon.

On the demand side, the Ohio Department of Health estimated the number of heroin addicts in the Buckeye State at more than 200,000 and growing.

On the supply side, despite a series of recent highly publicized busts in the Mahoning Valley, drug dealers are like roaches. Even amid aggressive efforts to crush them, they rise again and multiply to plague public health and safety.

In the long term, the glorified culture of acquiring prestige and riches associated with pushing smack must be quashed. That culture, according to Youngstown Police Chief Robin Lees, is akin to attainment of advanced educational degrees. With their first arrest, pushers earn their high school diploma, he said. With arrest No. 2, they receive their bachelor’s degree, and every subsequent arrest is another rung on the ladder of “higher education,” Lees said.

Replacing those riches and bling with retribution and the brig have begun to crack at the edges of the anguishing heroin epidemic gripping our community and country.

The shooting rampage that left four Marines and a sailor dead in Chattanooga, Tenn., should prompt the Pentagon to revisit restrictions on firearms at U.S. military centers, including recruitment centers like the one the shooter fired on before his fatal attack at the Navy support center. Existing gun regulations don’t seem sufficient to keep deadly weapons from the hands of individuals intent on committing evil acts, so it makes sense to allow military personnel – professionally and properly trained – to carry weapons.

It also is far preferable to what’s emerged in the wake of the rampage: self-appointed security forces camping outside recruitment centers. Stars and Stripes, a news service covering military issues, reports the armed “guards” aren’t welcome.

When the military politely asks its self-appointed protectors to stand down, they should. We’ll trust our military leaders to do what’s right to protect the men and women who serve.