"They Will Remain At Guantanamo as Long as Necessary"
By Knud Brix, Nyhedsavisen
January 12, 2007
The American strategy in Iraq has not gone according to plan. But more troops could still turn the tide of the war. In addition, Guantanamo will remain open as long as necessary. Meet America's number one man in Denmark, Ambassador James P. Cain.
He is Washington's face in Copenhagen. He is very professional, loyal, and chosen personally by President Bush to represent the American Government in Denmark. However, this does not prevent him from having firm opinions. Nyhedsavisen has discussed the world situation with the American Ambassador to Denmark, James P. Cain.
Q: President Bush has just presented his new strategy for Iraq that in many ways goes against the recommendations of the Baker Report. Among other things, the President intends to increase significantly the number of troops in Iraq. What is the background for such a strategy?
Ambassador Cain: "The new strategy recognizes that we have not been successful so far. We have not been well enough prepared for the scale of sectarian violence. The U.S. cannot afford to lose in Iraq. The most important thing about the new strategy is that the war in Iraq can still be won, because we will now have the necessary forces in Iraq, and we will be making demands of the Iraqi government to improve the security around Baghdad."
Q: The Danish Prime Minister has said that he hopes that the troops can be pulled out in the course of 2007. Does that go against U.S. strategy?
Ambassador Cain: "Denmark must, of course, set its own course in Iraq, and this is dependent on how the British and the Danes view the situation. But we hope that Denmark will focus on the consequences of pulling out too early. We understand the pressure that Denmark is under to reduce the number of troops (in Iraq), but if we all pulled out too early, it would result in chaos."
Q: What kind of chaos?
Ambassador Cain: "Every Iranian and Syrian terrorist would beat a path to Iraq and thereby destabilize the entire region."
Q: Yesterday was the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the facility at Guantanamo. The Danish Prime Minster has on several occasions told President Bush that he would like to see it close. When do you think that this might happen?
Ambassador Cain: "We do not want to keep the base (Guantanamo, Ed.) open any longer than necessary. This is something that the President has also made clear. But we have to find out what we are going to do with the more than 100 detainees at the base – individuals that we consider to be extremely dangerous and extreme. We have to keep them somewhere and that will be Guantanamo for as long as necessary."
Q: But why is it so difficult to set a specific date for closure if you are also interested in closing the base?
Ambassador Cain: "It is not possible to set a date as long as we do not know what we are going to do with these dangerous extremists – people that we cannot be certain will be prosecuted in the right way."
Q: The Danish Foreign Minister, Per Stig Møller, has expressed his disappointment about the cases involving prisoner abuse in American custody. What do you think about this debate?
Ambassador Cain: "I don't want to get into a debate about the Foreign Minister's comments specifically. There have been some unfortunate instances of prisoner abuse that have disappointed a lot of people in Europe and in Denmark. This will perhaps impact relations with the U.S. in the short term, but those responsible are being brought to justice and in the long run, this won't affect our cooperation. On a personal level, I am really glad that the President called the Danish Prime Minister to discuss the new strategy in Iraq before it was made public. This shows how close an ally Denmark is."