Obama Closing Guantanamo: Preparing Order In First Week

WASHINGTON — Advisers to President-elect Barack Obama say one of his first duties in office will be to order the closing of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay. That executive order is expected during Obama's first week on the job _ and possibly on his first day, according to two transition team advisers. Both spoke Monday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Obama's order will direct his administration to figure out what to do with the estimated 250 al-Qaida and Taliban suspects and potential witnesses who are being held at Guantanamo.

It's still unlikely the prison would be closed any time soon. Obama last weekend said it would be "a challenge" to close it even within the first 100 days of his administration.

Comments

[HeatherLeila]

09:58 AM on 01/21/2009

http://heatherleila3.blogspot.com/2009/01/obamas-inaguration.html

[smudoshi]

04:05 PM on 01/15/2009

I have a GREAT idea... Lets ask Gov. Palin to build an ultra-high security prison in Alaska somewhere, and put all the prisoners there! I smell job creation... Also, its so freaking cold and miserable there, that our friends may just give up information without having to waterboard them! They will be on US soil (kinda), and we can build a little courthouse to try them in. I guarantee that the Gov. won't be issuing any pardons, and she will feel ever-so patriotic by standing forward and committing Alaskan resource to solving a national headache. YAY for ME!... I am so smart.

[haimchaim]

12:19 PM on 01/14/2009

Pres Obama will win a noble peace prize -- with these kind of changes
The rest of the world will be watching....

[Norge]

03:09 PM on 01/13/2009

If Obama actually follows through with such, the whole world will smile and then Obama will be received as being a serious human rights man by both the unseen perceived enemies and unknown friends and the return of the worlds' respect for America will solidly have begun and America's return to the moral high ground.

[From the Raft]

11:30 AM on 01/13/2009

See a video about GITMO:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid527498425/bclid525671431/bctid687000852

[Jazzman323]

10:19 AM on 01/13/2009

This move is just a bone to the far left to keep them quiet, like the gay bishop. Obama knows he can't govern from the left or his presidency will fail, and Obama isn't stupid.

[BarefootSoul]

12:51 PM on 01/13/2009

ummm...he does plan on governing from the left. And I think HE IS STUPID...but I must be wrong...he cant be all that stupid if he came from NOTHING to this....prez elect....mad props even if he is a fraud.

[Buddy McCue]

01:21 PM on 01/13/2009

Ummm... He didn't say he planned on governing from the left, although that does seem to be an article of faith on the r ightwing talk radio. (Here's a little secret: that doesn't make it true. You're welcome.)

And "stupid?" Man, have you never heard O bama speak?

[BelGazou]

04:04 PM on 01/13/2009

We have been governed from the far right for 8 years and look at the fine, fine job that they've done on the U.S. and the world. It will take many years to get out from under all their various messes.

So brainwashed are so many that they still cling to the moribund ideas of the right-wing dinosaurs even as they lose their jobs, their homes, their investments and their pensions. Undoubtedly, these are the coalition of the Brain-Dead who voted for Bush twice.

[Jazzman323]

07:45 PM on 01/13/2009

Yes, as soon as Obama starts spreading the wealth around, everyone will be happy.

[DuncanONeil]

10:04 AM on 01/13/2009

At least there appears to be an understanding that what to do with the detainees is a major problem.

Just what do y'all think that should be?

As prisons go this one is way better than any inside the US!

[odan]

11:22 AM on 01/13/2009

My guess is they stay there and trials begin in earnest. if convicted they go to a US supermax prison if founf innocent they are moved to mini GITTMO's that are going to spring up around the world when this place closes. We have tried to give some of these folks back that were not deamed a threat and there country of Origin has refused them entry. Most all of these people will never see freedom.

[sticksnstones]

11:46 AM on 01/13/2009

Gitmo is not a " prison ". Gitmo is not a detention facility. Gitmo is an interrogation center, and has been described as such by our DOD from the get-go. Don't you think seven years has been enough time for the interrogators to get the goods on the bad guys held there?? Why no tribunals yet? Why no trials yet? Those are questions which beg for an answer. By not moving these detainees through a judicial process indicates that Gitmo is in reality nothing more than a concentration camp.

The US has more jail cells per-capita than any other nation on earth. There is plenty of room at the inn.

[Drewcipher]

08:28 PM on 02/03/2009

You are forgetting who these people are. Sorry buddy, Harold and Kumar are not really in Guantanamo...

Either way its a win win though. Our inmates will probably kill most of them in due time.

[huffposeur]

09:43 AM on 01/13/2009

you are bubbas; this is boob bait. swallow hard

[Nervie]

01:27 AM on 01/13/2009

OKAY, I get it now! Liberty. Justice. Equality.

So the word must have been out that Obama was going to try to shut down Guatanomo tribunal system on the first week that he commits to closing it. I applaud this effort.

The military commission agreeable needs decisiveness. The military personnel say that the system is ridged and not respecting American Constitutional rights, let alone the countries these individuals come from. However, the reluctance to take Bush's prison problems is also reflective of the international opinion of our administration not respecting the international court of law.

Could this really be the reason the former Australian prime minister will be here tomorrow, to try to twist his arm to take these "prisoners" off of Bush's hands thereby not allowing Obama's staff to have a conversation with them to find out all the details of what has been done to them?

And it that is the case, you wouldn't want this prime minister and wife to meet Mr. and Mrs. Obama in the hallway, would you? So the PM gets the whole Blair house and the Obama's can move to another place. The controversy over the countries not wanting to take the people back sounds like to me we created the mess, we need to solve it and find a place for these people to live and/or get them back to their families.
I ask where will Obama house these individuals? I'm still waiting to hear about this . . . does anyone

[hortonhearsawho2]

07:44 AM on 01/13/2009

What was the other essay question on that Poly Sci Exam ?

[PoliticalAmazon]

12:38 AM on 01/13/2009

How convenient. Obama will be "closing" Gitmo, transfering out all of the detainees, just in time for W a r r e n to use it to house the imprisoned g a y s from RW's AIDS programs (faith-based funded, of course) in Africa.

Or perhaps they are for RW's next persecution program of GLBTs planned for the U.S.

Who knows to what heights in terrorizing of minorities RW can gain with Obama's promotion.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-01-07/the-truth-about-rick-warren-in-africa

[naeldwyck]

03:17 AM on 01/13/2009

wow, cool down a bit!

[hortonhearsawho2]

07:46 AM on 01/13/2009

Double Cappuccino first thing in the morn...

[mudshark12]

12:24 AM on 01/13/2009

America needs to either charge the detainees or free them on a case by case basis, it's called Habeus Corpus which means "produce the body" (evidence). This has been long overdue is supposed to be unbiased and impersonal.

[murderBYzeN]

12:08 AM on 01/13/2009

"ordering" Gitmo closed is a nice bone to throw to the left. Of course it might TAKE a WHILE (think three years here..or until right before the next presidential election)

[sticksnstones]

12:14 AM on 01/13/2009

Thank you for your comments, Carl Rove. Always spot-on political analysis ....

[PoliticalAmazon]

12:39 AM on 01/13/2009

I'm more concerned about what Gitmo will be used for under the Obama administration.

[Buddy McCue]

07:06 AM on 01/13/2009

What do you suspect?

[Earl]

11:28 PM on 01/12/2009

I would like to sublet the property for the balance of the lease.

[PoliticalAmazon]

12:40 AM on 01/13/2009

I'm sorry, Mr. W a r r e n, but enslaving GLBTs is not yet legal in the U.S. You will have to wait for Obama to make it legal for you first. Then you can get all the faith-based government funding you need.

[MissKaren]

11:24 PM on 01/12/2009

The logistics are going to be daunting but the order will at least start the process. Countries have got to be found that will accept those prisoners who can be released but who cannot, for reasons of their own safety, be repatriated to their homelands. A way of trying those who are truly guilty of ghastly crimes that accords with the Constitution has to be found, too.

We successfully tried the so-called Blind Sheikh in open court with lawyers and a jury. I am sure that this can be done with others unless the evidence was obtained by torture (either physical or psychological). Thank goodness Obama is a Constitutional lawyer. He's gonna need it.-

[smag]

11:23 PM on 01/12/2009

This what finacial folks call a long term investment. Anyone who believes that Gitmo will be closed within a year of BO taking office is on crack. Don't get me wrong, it is a very difficult situation to actually determine what to do with these tolks. BO is now the "Decider" and with that comes responsibility for what you do not just what you say. It will a teething ring for the left who are not really living in the reality world but chewing on a teething ring offers no nourishment. It is just so amazing how easy it is to satisfy the Left i.e. Bishop tool.

[sticksnstones]

11:36 PM on 01/12/2009

TRANSLATION : I want everone to know that PE Obama is just like his predecessor. Obama is just as much of an ideologue as Bush, and has no moral compass. Obama doesn't have the intellectual hardware to navegate the jurisdictional intricasies required to place the detainees in a venue conducive to a fair trial.

Whoa, SMAG, I think you're the guy on crack.

[smag]

11:56 PM on 01/12/2009

I never said BO wasn't very smart. It is just that during campaigns both sides make the solutions to problems sound so simple because they are to a great extent talking to simple people who want so much to believe. BO can be a very good president if he dosen't make the stupid mistakes that the Left wants him to. And he should be able to learn from the dumb mistakes of the last 8 years. We will see how much of a politician he is. And that aint good.

[violettefemme]

12:10 AM on 01/13/2009

That was perfectly framed, thank you.