Upholding values will shield US from terror, says Obama

ANNAPOLIS, Maryland, (AFP/Reuters) - US President Barack Obama Friday warned America risked its security when it compromised its values, seeking support for his bid to sketch a new legal framework for anti-terror policies.
Obama used the backdrop of the US Naval Academy graduation ceremony to argue that founding US ideals must guide the future battle against terrorism, a day after trying to quell raging debate over Guantanamo Bay in a major speech.
We uphold our fundamental principles and values not just because we choose to, but because we swear to - not because they feel good, but because they help keep us safe, Obama told 30,000 graduating navy cadets and family members.
When America strays from our values, it not only undermines the rule of law, it alienates us from our allies, it energizes our adversaries and it endangers our national security and the lives of our troops.
Obama told the graduates they would face a full spectrum of threats from 18th century-style piracy to cyber terrorism.
In a speech on Thursday, President Obama vowed no retreat on closing Guantanamo Bay, branding the prison a mess and charging that Bush-era anti-terror tactics were rooted in fear and ideology.
Obama also raised the prospect of holding the most dangerous Al-Qaeda detainees indefinitely in US super-max jails.
Meanwhile, US President Obama, seeking to end the schedule delays and cost overruns that plague US defence spending, signed a law on Friday to reform the way the Pentagon purchases major weapons systems.
As commander-in-chief, I will do whatever it takes to protect the American people, Obama said at a White House signing ceremony. But I reject the notion that we have to waste billions of dollars to keep this nation secure.
The Senate and the House of Representatives passed the legislation unanimously earlier in the week. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton said the measure won broad support because weapons program cost overruns and schedule delays were rampant.
Earlier, Defence Secretary Robert Gates said the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, which Obama has ordered shut by next January, had to be closed because it had become a taint on the image of the US.
The truth is, its probably one of the finest prisons in the world today. But it has a taint, Gates told NBC televisions Today programme during a visit to New York.
The name itself is a condemnation. What the president was saying is, this will be an advertisement for Al-Qaeda as long as its open, he said.
Gates, who also served as defence secretary under ex-president George W Bush, said Americans should not fear the transfer of some of the detainees to high-security prisons in the US, where he said convicted terrorists have been held for years.
We have many terrorists in US prisons today. This started 20 years ago when I was at CIA and we captured a Hezbollah terrorist who had been involved in killing an American sailor on an aircraft that had been taken hostage in Beirut, said Gates.
We brought him to the US, put him on trial and put him in prison, he said.
He said Obamas critics were employing scare tactics over the issue. The truth is theres a lot of fear-mongering about this. Weve never had an escape from a super-max prison. And thats where these guys will go, and if not one of the existing ones, well create a new one, he said.