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Groton Daily Independent
Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 165 ~ 15 of 44
“The department has no expertise in environmental or agricultural matters and is not a ‘go-to’ agency for landowners with questions,” said Ganje.
Janell Christiansen of Lennox said she applied to the program after stumbling across an article online. “That was not advertised very well,” Christensen said. “I think I really did luck out.”
The governor’s of ce sent out a press release. The Revenue Department posted deadline reminders over Twitter and Facebook. But, there was little to no other formal outreach beyond these efforts.
Getting the word out is critical, according to Krystil Smit of the South Dakota Farm Bureau. “It does emphasize a need for people to be out talking about it,” Smit said.
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Information from: Argus Leader, http://www.argusleader.com
Mattis is 1st Pentagon chief to visit Guantanamo since 2002 By ROBERT BURNS, AP National Security Writer
GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis visited the American Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to offer holiday greetings to troops Thursday. It was the rst trip there by a Pentagon chief in almost 16 years.
Mattis was meeting with troops, not touring the detention facilities or discussing detainee policy options. His stay comes amid uncertainty over the Trump administration’s policy on continued use of the military prison.
President Donald Trump hasn’t released any Guantanamo prisoners or added any to the list of men who have been of cially cleared to go home or to a third country for resettlement.
Mattis is the rst defense secretary to visit Guantanamo Bay since Donald Rumsfeld in January 2002, just weeks after the rst prisoners arrived from Afghanistan in the early stages of the ght against terrorism. The detention center was set up to hold suspected terrorists shortly after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Mattis arrived at Guantanamo on Wednesday night and was accompanied by an Associated Press reporter.
Forty-one prisoners remain in detention. Ten have been charged by a military commission. Five have been cleared to leave, but their status is in doubt under the current administration.
That leaves 26 in inde nite con nement, though some eventually could be cleared for release, too, or prosecuted. Lawyers are considering ling new legal challenges, arguing that a policy of no releases means the detainees’ con nement no longer can be legally justi ed as a temporary wartime measure.
President Barack Obama tried to close the detention center, but was thwarted by Congress. Lawmakers objected to transferring detainees to con nement facilities in the United States.
Mattis has said little publicly about Guantanamo Bay since taking of ce in January. The subject wasn’t raised in his Senate con rmation hearing.
In response to written questions submitted to him before that hearing, he said: “I believe that we should develop a repeatable detainee policy that is appropriate for enemy combatants taken prisoner under such circumstances.”
Asked whether the U.S. should keep detainees without trial, he said: “Long-term detention is appropri- ate when an unprivileged enemy belligerent poses a continuing signi cant threat to the security of the United States.”
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions visited the detention facility in July.
Sessions underscored the administration’s support for continued use of the prison. He called it a “perfectly acceptable” place to detain new terrorist suspects, as opposed to holding them in the U.S. and having his own Justice Department try them in civilian courts.