Laura Berman

Moving Gitmo detainees to U.P. beats cost of gas

Are da Yoopers saying "yah" to the terrorists, eh?

Are they whooping for the gang now at Gitmo, perhaps by readying a campaign describing the romance of Escanaba in da moonlight, or preparing pasties and smoked fish as prison grub? Will trips to the Soo Locks replace waterboarding?

The suggestion that a vacant Manistique prison might be a site for detainees at the prison in Guantanamo might sound scary -- but it hasn't been met with derision and hand-wringing in that Upper Peninsula community.

U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak has quietly asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to "explore the option" of using Camp Manistique as a location for some Guantanamo detainees. Once that became public knowledge -- and the buzz at Mackinac Island last weekend -- politicians suddenly honked off like Canada geese. In Manistique, though, prisons -- even for the world's most desperate untried terror suspects -- aren't as scary as rising gas prices.

Stupak's phones aren't exactly ringing off the hook, even though U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, now running for governor, has compared the detainees unfavorably to Nazis during World War II. As the chairman of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee, he's steadfastly opposed to closing the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay.

What to do with the Gitmo guys -- who are almost certainly in ill temper after being quarantined in a makeshift prison -- is a perfect hot-button issue for the sizzling summer months.

But in Manistique, practical concerns may override political campaign issues.

For Stupak, backing a prison for more than 200 of the world's most dangerous men -- call 'em the Dirty Dozen Dozen and then some -- lacks surefire voter appeal.

A wind farm, or even a government sponsored blueberry cobbler factory, might be preferable. But he also knows that in Manistique, where a couple of paper mills just reopened after long shutdowns, all jobs are appreciated.

"Like everybody," says John Stewart, a former mayor and current shoe store owner, "we're hungry for jobs."

Manistique's mayor, David Peterson, recognizes that the subject could quickly ignite into a raging controversy.

"Gas prices. That's the No. 1 topic right now," he said, in a phone interview. "Gas is $2.74.9 here right now. We're sitting here with a closed prison and a bad economy. It's worth looking at."

A refurbished prison would employ construction workers, guards and U.S. marshals. There will be cooks, food purveyors, drivers and other workers.

"No, you won't see a prison in a Pure Michigan ad," says Stupak, who argues that sparkling lakes and streams won't be diluted by the reopening of an existing prison.

Peterson speaks for Michigan's broader creeping pragmatism when he says: "The way things are right now, we can't be turning down anything without taking a look at it."

Laura Berman's column runs Tuesday, Thursday and online Sunday. Reach her at (313) 222-2032 or email lberman@detnews.com.