Obama: Gitmo Not Likely To Close In First 100 Days (VIDEO)

In an interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "This Week," President-elect Barack Obama said that he was committed to closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay but was not sure it would be possible to do so in his first hundred days.

"I don't want to be ambiguous about this. We are going to close Guantanamo and we are going to make sure that the procedures we set up are ones that abide by our Constitution," Obama said. "That is not only the right thing to do but it actually has to be part of our broader national security strategy because we will send a message to the world that we are serious about our values."

However, Obama explained, "it is more difficult than I think a lot of people realize." "Part of the challenge that you have is that you have a bunch of folks that have been detained, many of whom may be very dangerous who have not been put on trial or have not gone through some adjudication. And some of the evidence against them may be tainted even though it's true. And so how to balance creating a process that adheres to rule of law, habeas corpus, basic principles of Anglo-American legal system, by doing it in a way that doesn't result in releasing people who are intent on blowing us up."

Watch:

The full exchange:

STEPHANOPOULOS: You also agreed on Guantanamo when you say you want to shut it down. You say you're still going to shut it down. Is it turning out to be harder than you expected, will you get that done in the first 100 days?

OBAMA: It is more difficult than I think a lot of people realize and we are going to get it done but part of the challenge that you have is that you have a bunch of folks that have been detained, many of whom who may be very dangerous who have not been put on trial or have not gone through some adjudication. And some of the evidence against them may be tainted even though it's true. And so how to balance creating a process that adheres to rule of law, habeas corpus, basic principles of Anglo American legal system, by doing it in a way that doesn't result in releasing people who are intent on blowing us up.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So not necessarily first 100 days.

OBAMA: That's a challenge. I think it's going to take some time and our legal teams are working in consultation with our national security apparatus as we speak to help design exactly what we need to do. But I don't want to be ambiguous about this. We are going to close Guantanamo and we are going to make sure that the procedures we set up are ones that abide by our constitution. That is not only the right thing to do but it actually has to be part of our broader national security strategy because we will send a message to the world that we are serious about our values.

Comments

[poco767c]

Turn it into a GOP theme park.

[wagadog]

I suggest they keep Gitmo open, for the likes of Bernie Madoff.

There's no deterrent in Club Fed. Gitmo, on the other hand...

[Skepticat]

The current mess was many years in the making, and there is unfortunately no quick fix. Any solution has got to not only be morally and constitutionally right - but also has to at least appear to work well enough so that it will not be immediately undone after the 2010 mid-term elections. This is true with Gitmo, wiretaps, the economic meltdown and practically everything else.
As I aging baby boomer I'm pleasantly surprized to find an elected leader who goes beyond simplistic promises and actually treats the voters like adult participants in their country instead of stupid hicks to be exploited. Such leaders are rare.

[harriscrl3]

Watch Rachel Maddow show she has been saying how Bush is tying Obama's hands in the last few weeks and no one has been paying attention to it. She is the only one.

Thank goodness for her.

Carol

[bbbbmer]

Ya know, Obama, reticent about Gitmo, prosecuting Bush/Cheney, this whole Rick Warren thing, and skittish about more aggressive action on the economic crisis..... he's looking more and more hapless by the hour... WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT!!!! He's turning into Bush III before our very eyes!

[rasit]

Really, how about your waiting 8 years before you pass judgement on President Obama's performance. These are complicated issues, as you may realize....

Compaing him to Bush III, not even thinkable....

[naijaman]

Are you serious?

[CatoTheCensor]

Go back and reread what he said on Gitmo. "We are going to close Guantanamo...we will send a message to the world that we are serious about our values." He's being realistic about the legal challenges. Evidence is going to have to be sorted through carefully in every case; that which was obtained legally is going to have to be weeded out from that which was obtained under torture, i.e. illegally, whatever spin the NeoCons want to put on it. Trials will have to be prepped and held. New legal standards will have to be set to enable this mess to be sorted out. That doesn't happen in a hundred days, as much as we might want it to. I don't read reticence in there, I read realism. I don't doubt his commitment to closing Guantanamo, and eradicating that stain on our national honor.

[poco767c]

Gitmo should be closed, but there needs to be a specific facility within US borders where terror suspects can be interrogated Legally, within the spirit of the constitution and US law. As much as it angers or repulses us, terrorists are people too and the same rules need to apply to them as to the rest of us.

[cjk002]

That is exactly why he is saying it will take time to resolve.

[naijaman]

Thank you! Sheesh!

[JuergenHartl]

Those facilities are called federal prison!

[LeftLeaner]

Mr. Obama seems to be backpeddling on quite a few things, now.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I just hope he rethinks devoting about 40% of his so-called "Stimulus" plan towards tax cuts, when it is a proven fact - check Moody's - that SPENDING is the only way to go. Alhough, with most of the manufacturing industry outsourced, it will not be as effective as it could be. For that, we can thank the "UNFAIR" trade agreements signed by "OUR" Leaders (haha) which continue to kill AMERICAN JOBS!!!

That has been proven during the Bush administration.

Listen to Paul Krugman - He's RIGHT!

[harriscrl3]

So he is liar because he cant close guantanmo in his first 100 days I dont remember him ever promising in his campaign to close it in his first 100 days.

Thank goodness that some of you will never run this country because clearly you have no clue how bureaucracy work you think that you can just snap your fingers and things get done. What makes it worse is when the person in power currently that the media ignores has been doing eveyrthing to tie your hand and make it even more difficult. But no surprise some of you want to continue living in your little fantasy and when you get a dose of reality and how the real world works you continue to bury your head in the sand pretending outrage this is not the change you voted for.

Then again I"m guessing that many of you are probably right this isnt the change you voted for because you did NOT vote for Obama you voted for McCain Nader or some other candidate but want to pretend like you voted for Obama.

Carol

[hapiday]

I guess PE is supposed to do all the following in his first 100 days.

1. Close Gitmo, what do you do with the detainees, what other country will take them?
2. Balance the budget - the deficit is in the trillions
3. Stop the war in Iraq - just pull them all out with no thought about how the state of country will be left.
4. Jump into and settle the conflict with India and Pakistan - need intelligence first to know what, how and the where of the crisis.
4. Find Bin Laden - Bush hasn't found him in 4 years, found some tapes though!
5. Settle the conflict with I$rael and Hamas - on day 1 - I$real wants to maim and de.troyed as many as humanly possible.
6. Reverse the don't ask, don't tell for gays - no problem, that actually is not going to be easy, because the military leadership had more control over that than Clinton
7. Have universal health care in place - this will be the most difficult, the medical community is a very difficult enviroment
8. Prosecute the entire Bush administration, the military and the C.I.A for war crimes - If he opens this can of worms, his term will lose focus on the above. This will crush PE in his first term.

[harriscrl3]

He cant even do all that stuff in 4 years but he is suppose to do it in 100 days because he is superman. Its so sad and pathetic that some expect that kind of magic it says a lot about them.

Carol

[McChimp]

For all of the radical progressive left who will cry "MORE EVIDENCE HE IS NOT CHANGE!" because of this "story", Obama said that change won't happen overnight, and that we may not get there in one year or one term. He is being clear and realistic by saying that GITMO may not be closed in his first 100 days as President because it's not going to be that easy, but he will take the steps necessary to get there.

Plus with the economic crisis on his hands, how realistic would it be to expect President Obama to shut down GITMO in his first 100 days?

Obama knows EXACTLY what he is doing, he is NOT going to be another Bush, some of you posting the knee jerk reactions need to relax and put the pitchforks and torches away and let the man have a chance to lead first.

[ChiGuy]

Many of those comments are just tro//s posing as outraged progressives, merelytrying to stir the pot.

[McChimp]

Nah some of them are for real, look at the heart attack on the "Did Obama snub Dean" thread, they are seriously getting their panties in a bunch just because Dean's BROTHER said Obama snubbed Howard Dean, and thus Obama lost support of the progressive movement. I kept saying that Obama will be President of more than just progressives, but like their counterparts on the far right, they will never get it, oh well.

[harriscrl3]

I agree with this and they way to know they didnt vote for him is when they start off saying this is not change we voted for. Thats usually a dead give away

Carol

[chronicthroat]

Amen!

Thank You!

[rogerze]

"We are here to do the work that ensures no other family members have to lose a loved one to a terrorist who turns a plane into a missile, a terrorist who straps a bomb around her waist and climbs aboard a bus, a terrorist who figures out how to set off a dirty bomb in one of our cities. This is why we are here: to make our country safer and make sure the nearly 3,000 who were taken from us did not die in vain; that their legacy will be a more safe and secure Nation."

-Obama

[TheScumfrog]

"intent" on blowing us up??? I am used to Bush not choosing any of his words, let alone wisely. However, I would expect more careful language from Obama. Especially the bulk of the Gitmo-controversy stems from locking people up based on their alleged "intent", rather than their actual actions.

Let's for now worry about the people that have actually attempted to blow us up, and deal with the 1,000,000,000,000s that have such "intent" later, perhaps by this long awaited thing called diplomacy.

"if a man is considered guilty for what goes on in his mind, then give me the electric chair for all my future crimes" - Prince

[cjk002]

Cue the whiners and trolls in 5..4..3..2

[ThePeacemakers]

Until then, once Obama takes office, a trip to Gitmo is in order, anyone disagree? There he can reiterate to the intelligence personnel, contractors, and troops his stance on torture in the meantime.
Nothing like a President who's saying "no torture allowed under my administration" making his presence felt to back up the words.

[AnnfromCA]

I can't wait to see what Moveon.org thinks of this one.

[McChimp]

I fail to recall when Obama ran for President of Moveon, last I checked he was running for President of the United States.

[forpeace]

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AnnfromCA
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What are you waiting for ........ go check their website.

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[ChiGuy]

Move On will understand, as you certainly should, that the administration which Obama is inheriting will be overloaded with an unprecedented number of crises, Gitmo among them, thanks to Bush and his cronies, and that not everything can be solved in an instant.