Last Friday, I and other 9/11 family members and victims' families from the USS Cole met with President Obama to discuss issues surrounding the status of GITMO.
As many of you know, I have been an outspoken critic of GITMO from the beginning. I believe that we must never abandon the fundamental principles upon which our nation was founded.
When ill-conceived decisions are coupled with secrecy, urgency, and questionable motives, democracy and justice cannot prevail. Indeed, with respect to the Bush administration's role in arresting, detaining, prosecuting and sentencing terrorists, we find nothing more than the
delaying and denying of what we need most - justice for victims by holding the perpetrators accountable.
Almost everybody agrees that the Bush administration pushed the edge of the envelope of constitutionality in their often ill-conceived, rash march to "win the war on terror." Extraordinary renditions, torture, wireless surveillance, GITMO, the Patriot Act -- the Bush administration told us that these were all "necessary tools" that kept us safe in our post 9/11 world. But their fabrications, missteps and exaggerations damaged our collective trust in government and diminished our nation's reputation around the world.
That's why we need to have a meeting of the minds so we can conduct an honest assessment of what works and what doesn't work in the effort to keep our nation secure in the face of an ever-present terrorist threat.
That kind of open, honest, and emotional debate took place Friday afternoon in the Old Executive Office Building during the meeting with the president. As one of the family members attending the meeting, I was very encouraged to know that we have an administration where cooler heads will prevail, where opinions and points of view are openly invited, voiced, and digested. What a breath of fresh air.
As a 9/11 widow and New Yorker, I believe we have waited too long for justice to be served when it comes to prosecuting terrorists. But I also know that we need to be deliberate and judicious in our approach, something entirely lacking in the previous administration.
We all need to give President Obama and Attorney General Holder a chance to remedy the mistakes of the Bush administration. Because those mistakes are complex and sweeping in scope, admittedly, it will take some time.
Friday's meeting with the president was a trusted step in the right direction.