Bush Decides To Keep Guantanamo Open

Despite his stated desire to close the American prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, President Bush has decided not to do so, and never considered proposals drafted in the State Department and the Pentagon that outlined options for transferring the detainees elsewhere, according to senior administration officials.

Mr. Bush's top advisers held a series of meetings at the White House this summer after a Supreme Court ruling in June cast doubt on the future of the American detention center. But Mr. Bush adopted the view of his most hawkish advisers that closing Guantánamo would involve too many legal and political risks to be acceptable, now or any time soon, the officials said.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[BOin08]

We could have avoided GITMO from the start with one simple command-TAKE NO PRISONERS!

[BOin08]

This should be the first item on Barrack's agenda...free those poor freedom fighters!

[wordvarc]

Responsibility is too hard for w.

Guantanamo is just another item on a long list of his unaccounted failures.

He'll leave his 'trickle down government and economy, his wars, his devastation of international and US law, his demolition of the middle class, and his deconstruction of the Party of Lincoln as a legacy to future generations.

[awcbuddy8]

Better not. 3,000 Americans died for that island and that base.

[wordvarc]

Our American soldiers honor is not contingent on the arrogant failures of w.

[BPCentrisAmerican]

I wish we could keep Guantánamo open for him, Cheney and the rest of the neo-con thugs.

[MizLiz]

I'm hoping Obama will close the damn thing for good. Blow it up so it can't be used for torture any more. by anybody.

[ObamAtomic]

peggyleg See Profile I'mnot a Fan of peggyleg I'mot n a fan of this user permalink

And are you willing to take the chance that these guys are total nobies? And, I, for one, don't want them on American soil here in the US, they don't deserve any of the rights or comforts tht our US prison system has to offer...
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They are protected under the Geneva Convention,contrary what your Party leader made you believe.

[Oldtimer]

Bush does not care what the Supreme Court says, especially if its split 5 to 4.
He has always planned on dumping the Guantonomo mess on the next administration.
God only knows what other gems Bush has in store for Obama.
Bush is the ugliest campaigner, the ugliest President and he'll preside over the ugliest
departure from the White House. I'll bet he out does Nixon.

[boozydale]

Good.....

[waters96]

I'm "shocked" Bush decided to leave Gitmo open. C'mon, was there ever any doubt the torture guy would leave the torture chamber open?

[cultkicker]

I'm quite sure Bush watches live feeds of prisoners being tortured. For this sociopath it becomes entertainment. He is the sickest, sleaziest POS President in the history of America.

God help America

[MagisterLudi]

So what exactly do we do with prisoners of war?
Let's hear some ideas. Be sure to address the secure internment of Jihadist captured in Iraq and A-stan who are NOT citizens of those countries. Expound.
Hint for misinformed: Geneva and Hague conventions EXPRESSLY prohibit trials of POWs in criminal justice system.
Hint: Yes, most ARE POWs, (not all) despite Cheney's nonsensical claim to the contrary.

[cardtosser]

If they are POW, place them in camps until the end of the conflict. They must be afforded the same treatment as those serving in the US armed forces of similar rank.

If they are alleged to have commited crimes, try them and if found guilty, punish them according to law.

If they are neither guilty of crimes against the United States, prisoners of war, or crimes against humanity, release them. It is possible that they are guilty of crimes against their homelands and those nations have a right to prosecute them there.

I cannot see how holding them in Gitmo has any relevance to their legal treatment. To say that Gitmo is not American soil would mean that other US enclaves, such as the late Canal Zone are not American soil. As a distant aside; if the Canal Zone was not US soil, McCain cannot become the President of the United States.

[MagisterLudi]

Good ideas al
OK.
Suggestions:
Next President should redefine as Gitmo as a POW camp.
Proclaim those captured on the field of battle POWS. Hold until Taliban and AQ surrender.
This is strictly in accordance with Geneva.
Those who were caught spying on American forces: military tribunal.This is according to Geneva/Hague. If found innocent send to citizenship country without right of appeal.
Afghanis caught facilitating the enemy: Afghani trial.
American citizen Taliban: criminal trial for treason. Naturalized U.S. citizens: automatic loss of citizenship and deportation after jail time to country of origination. No right immigration appeal from within U.S.
OK, this tough but fair.

[MajorKong]

I would say the problem is the legal gray area of "Neither POW nor Criminal" that the Bush administration has tried to create.

[MagisterLudi]

Agreed Kong. This on par with Reagans:" I don't recall" Clinton: " What is, is" Gonzalez "Mistakes were made and most recent Sen.Stevens mind boggling":
"He bought me a gift, but I refused it as a gift," Stevens said. "He put it there and said it was mine. I told him I would not accept it as a gift. We have lots of things in our house that don't belong to us."

[wordvarc]

Those detained at Guantanamo belong to w.

He created this and other obvious failed quagmires but is happy to pass this and all his desultory responsibilities to us.

[Paul]

Now that Gitmo will remain open, why not locate the George W. Bush Library there?

Nobody else seems to want it.

[peggyleg]

Where do you get that from? I know of 3 places that are already bidding for the location.

[MajorKong]

I really wish the RNC would send us a better class of troll. We always seem to get stuck with the Junior Varsity squad.

[ObamAtomic]

You need to go back to Faux.

[feo]

Petroleum imports, Aug 2008 (thouands of barrels)
CANADA 2,198
SAUDI ARABIA 1,573
MEXICO 1,399
VENEZUELA 1,304
Since when did we start hating Canada?

[MagisterLudi]

One taco short of a combination plate, definitely.

[PaleMail]

Just another item gathering dust in Dubya's 'pending basket' to be dumped on to his successor. Has a lazier man ever occupied the White House?

[peggyleg]

Bill Clinton

[captnEarl]

You need to go back to Faux

[tre]

Nope, Peggy, Jimmy Carter. Bill Clinton worked VERY hard at hiring just the right interns.

[MagisterLudi]

No... But Reagan comes pretty close second.

[MajorKong]

As bad as Gitmo is, I'm more concerned about the less publicized prisons we've been running in places like Diego Garcia and the former Warsaw Pact countries.

[captnEarl]

We need to keep Gitmo and the existing prisoners to keep the Boosh regime criminals cozy company when we send them there to serve their time