US Mulls Bagram for Terror Suspects

The Obama administration is looking into detaining international terrorism suspects at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Holding suspects captured outside Afghanistan at Bagram Air Base would create another prison serving the same purpose as the one President Obama has pledged to close in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The idea has drawn stiff opposition from Army Gen. Stanley McCrystal, the top commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, and other senior officials.

 Opponents worry the expansion of the facility at Bagram Air Base could make it harder to stabilize the country, the Times said.

Detainee abuse, including two deaths, occurred at Bagram early in the Afghan war, and the prison there has been criticized for harsh interrogations and the amount of time it has held suspects without trials.

Though the original prison has been replaced by a new one on the base, suspicion remains, and McCrystal worries the expansion of Bagram's role could be used for propaganda by extremists, the Times said.

"General McCrystal's singular focus is on making sure our military campaign is successful," a senior Defense Department official said. "Anything that potentially complicates that is something they are reluctant to embrace."

Consideration of the plan, which needs Obama's approval, is an indication the administration has few other places to hold and interrogate foreign prisoners outside the U.S. court system, senior administration officials told the Times.

The officials said that with no non-U.S. location for sending prisoners, the administration must bring the prisoners back to the United States, turn them over to foreign governments or, in some cases, kill them.

"No one particularly likes any of the choices before us right now, but Bagram may be the least bad among them," the Defense Department official said.

A White House spokesman refused to comment.