The real threat lies beyond the terrorists themselves. For places like Leavenworth, there is a virtual top ten list of external threats that housing these terrorists would bring to the 5,000 people who live on the Fort, the 12,000 people who work at the Fort, the 1,700 children who attend school on the post, and to the people of Leavenworth and the surrounding communities. Take a look:

1. Guantanamo Bay, an island facility, inherently limits external threats to prisoners, guards, and those around them from anyone who wants to attack the prison - be it angry Americans or suicide bombers.

2. Security experts estimate that Ft. Leavenworth would need to acquire 2,000 privately-owned acres of land by eminent domain to establish a stand-off zone around the USDB, which is situated near the perimeter. Imagine the lawsuits, time and money it will take to acquire the land.

3. A railway runs through the fort and a major river flows adjacent to it. Local air space by the Kansas City and Leavenworth airports would be restricted to military use only.

4. The USDB itself would have to be modified with a price tag of millions to hold prisoners it was not designed to secure. The USDB is a campus-style facility, prisoners are not totally isolated from one another, allowing communication with other inmates, a significant security concern for incarcerating detainees. Support facilities such as a hospital, court room, and additional military police facilities would have to be built. Leavenworth is the only maximum security facility in the Armed Forces, and of the 500 spaces available, only 85 are for maximum security use.

5. By law, military prisoners cannot be held with the terrorists they fight on the battlefield. If just one terrorist detainee was moved to Ft. Leavenworth, all 450 military offenders currently there would have to be transferred, most likely to Federal Bureau of Prisons facilities.

6. Since not all of the military offenders at the USDB have been discharged from the military, we could expect costly and lengthy legal tactics to fight such a transfer.

7. Relocating Military prisoners to a Federal Bureau Prison removes the ability of the military to fully carry out the Uniformed Code of Military Justice. There would be no facility to house maximum security inmates or carry out the death sentence for military inmates potentially undermining the entire military disciplinary system.

8. Military inmates are more disciplined and have a higher rehabilitation rate when serving time at Ft. Leavenworth in comparison to general population prisoners. Why change this successful program?

9. Security in the community of Leavenworth is, by law, beyond the protection of the Army, which forbids the military from taking on police roles outside of the post. As our enemies work to acquire greater means for inflicting even higher numbers of casualties on Americans, and in an era when extremists routinely seize schools, destroy hospitals, and use civilians as cover, it would be impossible to fully secure the citizens of Leavenworth from outside threats.

10. Let’s also not forget the cost to taxpayers. To achieve the kind of security already available at Gitmo, it will costs millions. The head of the prison worker’s union who attended my town hall meeting feared for her members and Kansans, should they have to take prisoners off the post for medical treatment. She said, "What will we have to do, transport them in a tank?"

The perfect solution is Guantanamo Bay. And now you have 10 compelling arguments that prove Leavenworth, Kansas is far from perfect.