Community | January 12, 2009 | 8 comments

Advisers say Obama preparing to close Gitmo

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090112/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bc_obama_guantanamo

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Advisers to President-elect Barack Obama say one of his first duties in office will be to order the closing of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay. That executive order is expected during Obama's first week on the job — and possibly on his first day, according to two transition team advisers. Both spoke Monday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Obama's order will direct his administration to figure out what to do with the estimated 250 al-Qaida and Taliban suspects and potential witnesses who are being held at Guantanamo.

It's still unlikely the prison would be closed any time soon. Obama last weekend said it would be "a challenge" to close it even within the first 100 days of his administration.
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8 comments // Advisers say Obama preparing to close Gitmo

  • DoIt4TehLULZ
    • 0
      DoIt4TehLULZ  

    • useless mate. Guatanamo is simply the prison with the "hausehold name" status. We hear nothing about the secret ship-prisons off the coast of africa in the indian ocean, "the pit" secret prisons in afghanistan, and the secret torture camps on eastern europe and diego garcia.

    • 3 years ago
  • Jiji_Kero
  • jefflovesian
  • SDLN
    • 0
      SDLN  

    • I've always been a little confused over the calls to close Gitmo. Is it purely a symbolic gesture, or is there a real advantage to the closure?

    • 3 years ago
  • quixotic12
  • SDLN
    • 0
      SDLN  
    • SDLN:

      I understand that aspect, but, if Gitmo were closed, I presume those being held without the right to a fair trial would be transferred to another facility where those same rights would continue to be violated. Obviously, I assume such facilities exist.

      Ergo my confusion over whether Gitmo's closing is a symbolic gesture (where we can feel good about that facility closing, while the reasons for the closing continue on elsewhere), or whether there's a real advantage to the closing (whereas such violations of rights under our system completely cease).

      Maybe I should have prefaced my original question with a couple other questions for the sake of clarity, such as: Is Gitmo our only facility in which these specific rights are being violated? Would the closure of Gitmo guarantee habeas corpus to its inhabitants? etc...

      Admittedly, I'm quite ignorant on these matters. My questions and concern are very sincere. I'm not asking to be facetious or argumentative.

    • 3 years ago
  • kennymotown
    • 0
      kennymotown  

    • It will be not a moment too soon. The investigations have turned up that many of 4,000 plus U.S. casualty's were caused after the Islamic world found out about the torture in Abugarib in Iraq. TORTURE is against the military code of justice, and water boarding is against the Geneva Convention as many Japenese found out after world war 2 as they were found guilty and executed for war crimes. General Miller a former head of prisons in Utah and in charge of Guantanamo prison and later transfered to Iraq were dog collars and leashes turned up at both places bares a responsibility to many of these war crimes purpetated in our name. Justice must be done to gain back our moral high ground.

    • 3 years ago
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