Thread: Gitmo status?

So what is going on with the Gitmo closing? Has Obama done anything with regards to that other than just talk about it?

No, that was another lie.

At what point will the left challenge him on this?

Originally Posted by justoneman

At what point will the left challenge him on this?

Considering the fact that the left still hasn't challenged Stalin's gulags, I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.

Originally Posted by justoneman

So what is going on with the Gitmo closing? Has Obama done anything with regards to that other than just talk about it?

Sure, he....umm....err.....oh ya, he thought about it.

Somone hasn't been paying attention.
S


lowly, gradually, President Barack Obama is moving towards closing down the Guantanamo military prison, symbol of US excesses in the "war on terror," but difficult hurdles still remain.
A major step was taken Friday when France agreed to take in one of about 240 prisoners still languishing in the detention facility at the US naval base in southern Cuba, which Obama wants to shut by January 2010.
Washington on Friday formally asked its partners in the European Union to step up and welcome detainees who have not been charged with any terror acts.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy vowed Paris would help, saying the move to accept one prisoner, which could involve an Algerian detainee according to US officials, had been settled during talks in Strasbourg with Obama.
"Yes we have spoken, yes we have agreed" to accept one detainee, Sarkozy told reporters ahead of a NATO summit.
If Washington is asking its allies to take inmates it is "because that will allow the camp to be closed. So, if we are going to be coherent, we say yes," Sarkozy added.
Rights groups have warned the US government cannot close the camp without the help of its allies.
"The Obama administration can't solve the Guantanamo problem on its own," said Joanne Mariner, terrorism and counterterrorism director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), in a statement.
"European allies have long urged the US to close Guantanamo. Now they have a chance to help make that happen."
But national laws differ widely among the 27 EU countries and they are struggling to define a common position on how best to help.
Some 800 youth and adults have passed through the camp gates since it was opened in the wake of the 2001 attacks on the United States to house suspects rounded up in the "war on terror" launched by president George W. Bush.
Out of the 240 who remain, only about 20 have been charged and the Bush administration only planned to bring charges against between 60 to 80 of them. About 60 others have been cleared for release.
Obama has called for a thorough review of the case against each of the remaining detainees and has vowed to shut down the camp. But the fate of each individual remains uncertain.
"No decision has been taken on individual cases," a French foreign ministry spokesman cautioned, adding that the security and legal risks of hosting any detainee would be carefully evaluated.
The official also said that it would be helpful if the United States would take in some released detainees who can't return to their homeland, citing the example of Chinese prisoners from the Muslim Uighur minority.
They are among prisoners which the United States does not want to return to their countries of origin, including such nations as Turkey, Uzbekistan and Libya, fearing they could face persecution there.
But so far only France, Portugal and Spain have stepped forward to say they would be prepared to take some Guantanamo detainees.
Two defense sources have told AFP the US plans to welcome the 17 Chinese Uighurs who have been held for seven years in Guantanamo despite being cleared of all charges.
But Director of National Intelligence Denis Blair has said the United States will have to provide them with some kind of assistance so they can begin a new life here.
HRW confirmed that about 60 prisoners from countries such as Algeria, Libya, China, Tunisia, and Uzbekistan had told their lawyers that they fear torture or abuse in their home countries and do not want to be returned there.
"Several of these men have been cleared to leave Guantanamo for years, but remain trapped there because neither the United States nor any third country has been willing to accept them," the group added in a statement.
And the fate of about 100 Yemenis also remains unclear, caught in an impasse between US and Yemeni authorities on how best to repatriate them.
AFP: Slow steps on closing Guantanamo

He's not even close to the deadline correct? So why are we butthurt here?

Originally Posted by justoneman

Has Obama done anything with regards to that other than just talk about it?

Yeah, he signed an executive order to close it within a year. And more, see above.

@Fishmint, man, first of all if your going to paste entire articles, I wish you would space the paragraphs, it is hard to read. No matter, I have read it before. I have a question however. If this deadline comes and goes and Gitmo is not closed, will that matter to you, or will you continue to make excuses? One more if I may. There are scores of these sites around the world, do you not see Gitmo as a smoke screen, I have in the past and I do now, but I want your take on this. See it can be closed, but will the needless torture, endless detention, no rights to detainees, rendition, and other black eyes stop because Gitmo is closed?

Originally Posted by michaelr

@If this deadline comes and goes and Gitmo is not closed, will that matter to you, or will you continue to make excuses??

Absolutely. I will certainly call him on it, and no doubt others on the left will as well.

Originally Posted by michaelr

@ There are scores of these sites around the world, do you not see Gitmo as a smoke screen, I have in the past and I do now, but I want your take on this. See it can be closed, but will the needless torture, endless detention, no rights to detainees, rendition, and other black eyes stop because Gitmo is closed?

Well Gitmo is an important symbol, but i agree, it is somewhat of a small part of a larger issue. But this has definetly been addressed by Obama.

The CIA is no longer operating secret prisons used to interrogate terror suspects with harsh techniques such as waterboarding, the agency's director has said.
An air base in Romania allegedly used by the CIA as a secret prison


Leon Panetta confirmed the move in response to an order from Barack Obama, which was one of his first after taking office as US President in January.

"CIA no longer operates detention facilities or black sites and has proposed a plan to decommission the remaining sites," the spy chief said in a letter to agency employees.
"I have directed our agency personnel to take charge of the decommissioning process and have further directed that the contracts for site security be promptly terminated."
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/CIA-Not-Operating-Secret-Prisons-Or-Black-Sites-Any-More-Leon-Panetta-Confirms-After-Obama-Order/Article/200904215259353?lpos=World_News_First_Home_Article _Teaser_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15259353_CIA_Not_Oper ating_Secret_Prisons_Or_Black_Sites_Any_More%2C_Le on_Panetta_Confirms_After_Obama_Order

Originally Posted by Fishmint

Absolutely. I will certainly call him on it, and no doubt others on the left will as well.

Well Gitmo is an important symbol, but i agree, it is somewhat of a small part of a larger issue. But this has definetly been addressed by Obama.

The CIA is no longer operating secret prisons used to interrogate terror suspects with harsh techniques such as waterboarding, the agency's director has said.
An air base in Romania allegedly used by the CIA as a secret prison


Leon Panetta confirmed the move in response to an order from Barack Obama, which was one of his first after taking office as US President in January.

"CIA no longer operates detention facilities or black sites and has proposed a plan to decommission the remaining sites," the spy chief said in a letter to agency employees.
"I have directed our agency personnel to take charge of the decommissioning process and have further directed that the contracts for site security be promptly terminated."
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/CIA-Not-Operating-Secret-Prisons-Or-Black-Sites-Any-More-Leon-Panetta-Confirms-After-Obama-Order/Article/200904215259353?lpos=World_News_First_Home_Article _Teaser_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15259353_CIA_Not_Oper ating_Secret_Prisons_Or_Black_Sites_Any_More%2C_Le on_Panetta_Confirms_After_Obama_Order

So in other words, the Obama regime is putting the secret back into "secret prisons."