Mike Huckabee at CNN/YouTube Debate, originally uploaded by Rob Bluey.

Mike Huckabee has a plan to fix the public-relations problem with the terrorist detention facility at Guantanamo Bay: He’d move the combatants to Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. In a statement released today by the campaign in advance of Tuesday’s Supreme Court case on habeas corpus rights, Huckabee said the Kansas facility would be alternative to GITMO.

My concern is that the facility has become a distraction from our Global War on Terror. Other facilities, like Fort Leavenworth, can serve the same purpose without the controversy.

It’s interesting that Huckabee takes that position yet he fails to back it up with any solid information about why he believes Fort Leavenworth “can serve the same purpose.” It comes off looking like a politically expedient answer that’s more in line with Sen. Joe Biden’s position on GITMO than the rest of the GOP field.

As my colleague James Jay Carafano noted a few months ago, the debate over GITMO really misses the point.

Any proposal to move deten¬≠tion operations must articulate how these detention operations can be performed more efficiently and effectively than they are now. Arguing that the U.S. should close the facilities merely to placate criti¬≠cisms of its detention policies is insufficient. By and large, the criticisms are patently false and unjusti¬≠fied. In any case, because the government’s respon¬≠sibilities will not change, it is unlikely that detention operations will be conducted in a significantly dif¬≠ferent manner in a different location. Merely closing the facilities at Guantanamo Bay is not likely to pla¬≠cate any of America’s critics.

So here’s my question for Huckabee, which I’ll be glad to ask during his next conference call with bloggers: Why do you believe closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay would be more efficient and effective in America’s prosecution of the war on terror?

UPDATE — 11:18 p.m.: Joe Carter might end up as my favorite blog outreach guru by the time this presidential campaign is all said and done. Although I’m still not sold on Huckabee’s idea for GIMTO, Joe does clarify this is not a Biden-like plan. Here are some additional details.

I should clarify that he’s talking about a move that would occur late in his first term. He wants to get the trials out of the way before we even think of closing down Gitmo.

There are 15 high value targets, 80 set to go to trial, and the rest are ones that don’t their home countries don’t want to take back. Governor Huckabee wants to expedite the trials for the actual terror suspects and send the others either to Leavenworth or some third-party country.

I appreciate the quick response from the campaign and the attention being paid to us lowly bloggers.

UPDATE — 12:47 a.m.: Sometimes even bloggers need an editor. Such was the case for me tonight. My literal description of Fort Leavenworth as being “Middle America” in the headline didn’t sit well with my friend Josh Trevino, who pinged me on Twitter to share his criticism. After giving it some thought, I ended up agreeing with him, and as a result, I’ve changed the headline.