The U.S. is still holding some 200 detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, despite an executive order to close the prison before today.
One year later, Gitmo still open
One year ago today, President Obama signed his first executive order intended to close the detention center at the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within a year.
But Gitmo is still open.
This is what the president said on Jan. 22, 2009:
This first executive order, that we are signing, uh, by the authority vested in me as president of the const… uh, the president by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, in order to affect the appropriate disposition of the individuals currently detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo, and promptly to close the detention facility at Guantanamo consistent with the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States and interests of justice, I hereby order.
And we then provide, uh, the process whereby Guantanamo will be closed no later than one year from now.
On Jan. 22, 2010, the Defense Department is still holding some 200 detainees at Gitmo. Despite having chosen a prison in Illinois to house the detainees and firing the White House counsel for not moving fast enough to close the prison, the administration has no idea when it will close Gitmo. This is what the president’s press secretary, Robert Gibbs, said yesterday:
“I don’t know when the process will be done,” he said during the day’s press briefing. “There’s been progress on issues of siting a new detention facility. The president won’t meet the deadline he laid out a year ago, but the president, his national security team, our generals in Iraq and Afghanistan understand the support for al-Qaeda that Guantanamo provides them, in recruiting, in attracting those that seek to do us harm.”
That first executive order has been problematic for the president. He promised to close Gitmo and end military tribunals — and he broke both promises. In fact, the Justice Department is recommending that 50 of the detainees should be held indefinitely, without even a tribunal. How’s that for change?
But hey, deadlines just aren’t the president’s thing.
Sources:
The Hill, Jan. 21, 2010
Gibbs: ‘I don’t know’ when Gitmo will close
The Washington Post, Jan. 22, 2010
Justice task force recommends about 50 Guantanamo detainees be held indefinitely
The New York Times, Dec. 15, 2009
Obama Tells Prison to Take Detainees
CNN, Jan. 22, 2009
Obama signs order to close Guantanamo Bay facility
The New York Times, Jan. 22, 2009
