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U.S. town bids to be new Gitmo

Even the good times are pretty tough in Hardin, nestled deep in the “Big Sky” countryside of Montana. And these are not good times.

So the city of 3,400 people has launched an unusual civic effort to bring jobs and prosperity back to its dusty streets: to become the Gitmo of the north.

Barack Obama’s plan to close Guantanamo Bay has sent politicians scrambling to promise that none of the prisoners will be re-housed on their patch. But not Hardin.

Instead, the local council has launched an audacious attempt to relocate Guantanamo detainees to the town, offering up a state-of-the-art prison facility that is currently sitting empty.

Members voted unanimously to back the proposal and have been actively courting the media to promote the plans.

Hardin’s economic development director, Greg Smith, has even toured the empty prison with a camera crew from al-Jazeera. He is convinced the move would be good for Hardin. “This is an opportunity to both do something right for us and possibly also something that is right for the country,” he said.

There is opposition to the Gitmo resettlement plan. Some local people have complained bitterly and other politicians in Montana have expressed deep reservations. “We’re not going to bring Al-Qaeda to Big Sky country. No way. Not on my watch,” a local senator, Max Baucus, told Time magazine.

But Smith is not deterred. “I know this is a long shot but we can do this,” he said. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2009

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