Obama takes last chance to close Guantanamo Bay

Luke Skywalker · Feb 23, 2016

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[h=4]Obama takes last chance to close Guantanamo Bay[/h]The report sets up a last-year confrontation with Congress about a campaign promise he made eight years ago.

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President Obama lays out a plan to officially close the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay and move prisoners to a new location inside the U.S. VPC

In this Nov. 21, 2013, file photo reviewed by the U.S. military, dawn arrives at the now closed Camp X-Ray, which was used as the first detention facility for al-Qaida and Taliban militants who were captured after the Sept. 11 attacks at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. U.S. officials say the Pentagonís long-awaited plan to shut down the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and transfer the remaining detainees to a facility in the U.S. calls for up to $475 million in construction costs, but would save as much as $180 million per year in operating costs.(Photo: Charles Dharapak, AP)

WASHINGTON*— Keeping the*U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay open is "contrary to our values," President Obama said Tuesday, as he released a plan that examined*13 potential sites for transferring the suspected terrorists*but did not propose any specific location.
His plan sets up a last-year confrontation with Congress about a campaign promise made eight years ago. Terrorists use Guantanamo as propaganda to recruit, and maintaining it*harms U.S. national security, he said.
The plan has three elements beyond closing the prison, Obama said. More detainees will be safely transferred, reviewing*the threat posed by detainees who are not eligible for transfer, and*identifying those eligible for military trials.
“This plan has my full support," Obama said.
Obama said closing Guantanamo was something his Republican predecessor, George W. Bush, supported, as did his 2008 Republican challenge, Sen. John McCain of Arizona. Since then, however, the politics have got in the way, he said.
Obama said he was "very clear-eyed" about the challenges of closing Guantanamo.*"If it were easy it would*have happened years ago," he said.
McCain, who now chairs the Armed Services Committee, called the plan flimsy and said his committee would hold hearings on it soon.
“What we received today is a vague menu of options, not a credible plan for closing Guantanamo, let alone a coherent policy to deal with future terrorist detainees,” McCain said in a statement. “After years of rhetoric, the president has still yet to say how and where he will house both current and future detainees, including those his administration has deemed as too dangerous to release.”
McCain said Obama had missed “a major chance to convince the Congress and the American people that he has a responsible plan to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.”
The plan does not indicate the prisons in the United States*under consideration to transfer detainees, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said in a statement.
“The administration seeks an active dialogue with Congress on this issue and looks forward to working with Congress to identify the most appropriate location as soon as possible,” Cook said.
The report looked at existing facilities*in South Carolina, Kansas and Colorado, as well as new facilities at unnamed military bases across the country.
It would cost $290 million to $475 million for the Department of Defense to renovate an existing state or federal prison, which would be*dedicated to holding only Defense*detainees, the official said. But the Pentagon estimates it could save $65 million to $85*million a year, recouping the one-time costs in about five years,*though the official said the numbers are "somewhat rough and notional” because Congress has not appropriated the money necessary to do a complete site assessment.

Dawn breaks over abandoned Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Today, 164 detainees are held at Guantanamo, down from a peak of about 660 a decade ago. Most were tried, transferred or cleared for release.*(Photo: Charles Dharapak, AP)

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Monday that*the Pentagon report "will make a compelling case that closing the prison is clearly in our national security interest, but also will reflect the need for the United States government to be a good steward of taxpayer dollars."
There are 91 detainees remaining in the prison; each one costs more than $3 million per year.
"There is far too much money that is spent to operate that prison when there are more cost-effective alternatives available. And we certainly would like to work with the Congress to make those alternatives a reality because we know that those alternatives don't weaken our national security.*In fact, they strengthen it.*They enhance it," Earnest said. "And it would take away —*by closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay —*a chief recruiting tool that we know is used by terrorist organizations about the world."
USA TODAY
Guantanamo Bay not on Obama's agenda for Cuba

The plan, released Tuesday morning, anticipates that a "limited number" of detainees will not be eligible for transfer to other countries
"For these detainees, the administration intends to work with the Congress to relocate them from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility to an appropriate site in the continental United States while continuing to identify other appropriate and lawful dispositions," the plan says.
Guantanamo Bay, located on the eastern edge of Cuba, has housed*prisoners taken captive in war on terror since 2002. Since it exists on a base on Cuban soil but held by the United States under a 113-year-old lease,*the prisoners are in what some human rights organizations call a "legal black hole."
But transferring them to U.S. soil would not necessarily change their legal status. A*previous legal opinion from the Pentagon*found that the 2001 legislation authorizing the global war on terror allows them to be held as combatants as long as hostilities remain.
There were 242 detainees still in the Guantanamo Bay prison when Obama took office in 2009, down from a high of almost 700. That number has dwindled over the years as the Pentagon has transferred lower-risk detainees to other countries*—*meaning that the prisoners who remain tend to be considered higher security risks.
Of the 91 detainees remaining, 35 are eligible to be transferred to other countries as long as those countries can demonstrate that they can hold the prisoners without risk. Another 10 await trial by a military court, and 46 are still being evaluated.
USA TODAY
Obama: 'We have to change course' on Guantanamo

Current law prohibits the president from transferring the Guantanamo Bay detainees to U.S. soil, where there are only a handful of maximum-security prisons deemed appropriate to house them. Congress also added a provision to the defense policy bill*signed by Obama last year*requiring*the administration to put forward a plan for transferring the remaining detainees to prisons in the United States.
House Speaker Paul Ryan dismissed the plan, saying it did not make a convincing case that moving detainees to the United States was "smart or safe." The plan did not provide details required by law about the cost and location of the U.S. prison.
"Congress has left no room for confusion," Ryan said in a statement. "It is against the law — and it will stay against the law — to transfer terrorist detainees to American soil. We will not jeopardize our national security over a campaign promise.”
Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the top Democrat in the House, called the administration's proposal a "strong, detailed plan" to close Guantanamo.
“The reality is Guantanamo hurts, rather than advances our efforts to keep America safe and combat terrorism abroad," Pelosi*said in a statement.*"Closing the detention facility at Guantanamo will strengthen our national security and affirm our values and laws. It is disappointing that Republicans have worked to prevent the long-overdue closure of the Guantanamo facility."

A LOOK BACK AT NEWS FROM THE GUANTANAMO BAY DETENTION FACILITYInside a shrinking Guantanamo prison | 02:55After 14 years, the detention center on the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, appears to be winding down despite opposition in Congress to President Barack Obama's intent to close the facility. (Feb. 8) AP

A LOOK BACK AT NEWS FROM THE GUANTANAMO BAY DETENTION FACILITYPresident Obama renews vow to close Gitmo | 01:14President Obama renewed his vow to shut down the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba during his final State of the Union address. He called the prison "expensive" and "unnecessary." VPC

A LOOK BACK AT NEWS FROM THE GUANTANAMO BAY DETENTION FACILITYCarter: 10 prisoners transferred from Guantanamo | 01:29Ten prisoners from Yemen who were held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba have been released and sent to the Middle Eastern nation of Oman for resettlement. (Jan. 14) AP

A LOOK BACK AT NEWS FROM THE GUANTANAMO BAY DETENTION FACILITY5 things you may not know about Guantanamo Bay | 01:27The United States Senate passed a bill that bans moving detainees from Guantanamo Bay to the United States. President Obama has repeatedly stated he wishes to close the military prison. VPC

A LOOK BACK AT NEWS FROM THE GUANTANAMO BAY DETENTION FACILITYDefense Sec'y. on Need for Guantanamo Closure | 01:39US troops and veterans asked Secretary of Defense Ash Carter questions in a Worldwide Troop Talk on Tuesday, ranging from the future of Guantanamo Bay to the possibility of US troops on the ground to defeat the Islamic State group. (Sept. 1) AP

A LOOK BACK AT NEWS FROM THE GUANTANAMO BAY DETENTION FACILITYTimeline: Main events in US-Cuba relations | 02:44President Obama said that the U.S. will begin to normalize relations and establish diplomatic ties with Cuba, ending many restrictions that have been in place for five decades. Here are key dates in relations between the two countries. VPC

A LOOK BACK AT NEWS FROM THE GUANTANAMO BAY DETENTION FACILITYWhat’s next after damning torture report | USA NOW | 02:57Hadley Malcolm speaks with Washington Enterprise Editor Ray Locker about the implications of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on CIA torture after 9/11. (USA NOW, USA TODAY)

A LOOK BACK AT NEWS FROM THE GUANTANAMO BAY DETENTION FACILITYBergdahl's trade for detainees sparks debate | USA NOW | 02:38Sgt. Bergdahl's release in exchange for five Taliban prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay has sparked debate on whether Obama "negotiated with terrorists." VPC

A LOOK BACK AT NEWS FROM THE GUANTANAMO BAY DETENTION FACILITY12 years on, Guantanamo Bay camps still far from closing | 02:48More than 12 years after it was first used to house prisoners of the US war on terror, the Guantanamo Bay detention facility is still operational, with more than 150 inmates.
Video provided by AFP Newslook

A LOOK BACK AT NEWS FROM THE GUANTANAMO BAY DETENTION FACILITYLife inside U.S. Guantanamo Bay detention facility | 05:03It’s been more than 12 years since inmates first arrived at U.S. detention camps in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Conditions have improved, but rights groups say prisoners have little prospect of being charged or tried. Newslook

A LOOK BACK AT NEWS FROM THE GUANTANAMO BAY DETENTION FACILITYAway from prison camps, life on Guantanamo Bay has surreal edge | 02:23Most well-known for its detention facility, Guantanamo Bay in Cuba is a fully-functioning US military base, complete with all the amenities that entails for the families who live there.
Video provided by AFP Newslook

A LOOK BACK AT NEWS FROM THE GUANTANAMO BAY DETENTION FACILITYObama heckled while talking about Gitmo | 01:57A woman heckled President Obama several times during his speech on counterrorism, closing Guantanamo Bay, and drones. The president made light of the interruptions and said her voice was worth listening to, even if he didn't agree with her.

A LOOK BACK AT NEWS FROM THE GUANTANAMO BAY DETENTION FACILITYObama: We need to close Guantanamo | 01:32President Obama says he's going to try again to close down the prison for terrorist suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. VPC

A LOOK BACK AT NEWS FROM THE GUANTANAMO BAY DETENTION FACILITYAfter long quiet, Guantanamo grows tense | 02:17After a long period of quiet, the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base has grown increasingly tense, with more than half of the prisoners refusing to eat and nearly everyone locked down for most of the day since a violent clash with guards April 13. (April 22) AP

A LOOK BACK AT NEWS FROM THE GUANTANAMO BAY DETENTION FACILITY9-11 relatives see al-Qaeda suspects | 01:05Relatives of victims of the September 11th, 2001 attacks were able to see the suspects, during a war crimes tribunal at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Five men are accused of training and aiding the hijackers. (Jan. 29) AP

A LOOK BACK AT NEWS FROM THE GUANTANAMO BAY DETENTION FACILITY9/11 responder in N.Y.: 'We want justice' | 02:30A retired New York firefighter was among the 9/11 families and responders who watched the pretrial hearings at Guantanamo Bay via closed-circuit television at the Fort Hamilton Army Base.

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Obama takes last chance to close Guantanamo Bay

Luke Skywalker

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