Obama: Gitmo Likely Won't Close in First 100 Days

[chucktaylor]

Source: abcnews

President-elect Barack Obama said this weekend that he does not expect to close Guantanamo Bay in his first 100 days in office.

"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," Obama said in an exclusive "This Week" interview with George Stephanopoulos, his first since arriving in Washington.

"It is more difficult than I think a lot of people realize," the president-elect explained. "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."



Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/Economy/story?id=6619291&page=1

[thunder rising]

1. Get this ... the detainees that were never guilty of much are now dangerous for revenge attacks

Give them some cash, let them go home, and threaten them with certain death if ever seen with a weapon.

[sandnsea]

6. Threaten them with certain death?

Isn't that what we did before we went into Afghanistan? Threatened them with certain death if we caught anybody with a weapon?

So was that threat not valid because it came out of a Republican's mouth?

[thunder rising]

51. WE LET THEM GO HOME ... get it?

[atreides1]

2. Could this be the beginning?

Backing away already and offering excuses?

At least he wants to adhere to the rule of law, for now. But you never know his staff might be able to talk him out of it for the sake of security!

Not trying to start a flame war, just pointing out the differences between campaign PROMISES and reality as it's defined once the election is over.

[Duckhunter935]

4. I hope not

[Joe Steel]

14. Obama is center-right, white-bread politician.

Could this be the beginning?

Backing away already and offering excuses?

At least he wants to adhere to the rule of law, for now. But you never know his staff might be able to talk him out of it for the sake of security!

Not trying to start a flame war, just pointing out the differences between campaign PROMISES and reality as it's defined once the election is over.

Obama is center-right, white-bread politician. He promises what he has to promise to get elected and does what he has to do to stay in office.

Look for him to abandon those who put him in office in favor of the insiders who can keep him there.

[RedSock]

38. right

i don't know why people fall for same line every time:

2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, ... i'm sure the next election will produce results!

[cstanleytech]

35. We shall see but

the fact is I didnt expect the next president regardless who won to say "Ok we screwed up, close it down right this minute and let them all go".
We can all thank Bush for this fubar.

[ixion]

3. so incorporate them into the REAL legal system, or release them

but keeping the gulag open, just 'cause, is not a good way to start the change.

[sandnsea]

5. Gosh, that's what the man just said

They're going to have to figure out who needs to be incorporated into the legal system and where to put them while they do that - and who needs to be released. It's going to take some time for the new administration to do that.

[ixion]

13. it should be done now, not 3 to six months from now

we've held innocent people without charges for 7+ years. That's a whopping load of crap, and should be dealt with immediately, not whenever someone finally decides to get around to it.

[sandnsea]

15. Do you know who is who?

And did he say he wouldn't release the ones who are known to be innocent? No. He said it would take some time to close Gitmo because there are alot of people to sort though.

[bottomtheweaver]

21. It's public knowledge that most of these men are innocent.

This is just one of many, many investigations into the detaines that have published, and they have been unanimous in their conclusions that these men are innocent:

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/detainees/story/38773.html

[sandnsea]

23. Most is not ALL

They have to figure out who is who and what to do with the ones who ARE terrorists.

[bottomtheweaver]

29. Then they should all be released immediately.

If no charges have been brought against these men we have no moral or legal right to detain them. Every investigation of any particular detainee I've read has concluded that that particular individual is innocent. Gitmo is as illegal and immoral as every other concentration camp.

[robcon]

45. A fantasy...

"we've held innocent people without charges for 7+ years.

Innocent people????? They are neither innocent nor guilty - they've never been tried, they've been held as POW's - who do not ever get a trial by international law.

They may be innocent, they may be guilty - I don't know, and neither do you.

[closeupready]

46. Innocence is presumed, NOT guilt, in the American system of justice.

n/t

[ixion]

47. not a fantasy: THE RULE OF LAW

which states that someone is innocent until proven guilty, not vice versa.

[Demeter]

It Doesn't Take Any Time or Effort

All the theorizing has been done already. Just implement it!

[sandnsea]

27. Bush theorized us into Iraq

No. They need to look through this themselves. Anything else would be completely irresponsible and a dereliction of their constitutional duties.

[Jefferson23]

7. I don't find this unreasonable, not yet anway.

[EFerrari]

9. I do. We have a legal system. He needs to use it, period.

[sandnsea]

16. Basically, they tortured terrorists

and don't know what to do with them now. That's what he's really saying. He isn't saying he isn't going to release the ones who are innocent.

[bottomtheweaver]

19. They detained and tortured innocent men, and that's a crime against humanity.

And that's what the record shows. Any claims that any of these men were "terrorists" is pure speculation. I'm sorry, but Obama needs to address this immediately and if he doesn't he will be complicit in these very serious crimes.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/detainees/story/38773.html

[sandnsea]

22. Of course some of them are terrorists

And any claim that some aren't is pure speculation and complete insanity.

[bottomtheweaver]

25. I've seen no credible proof of that.

How many have been tried in US courts of law? Sure we've been told these men are terrorists, but we were also told Saddam was a gathering threat and lots of other fairy tales. It's also well known that most of these men were sold to the US by warlords who simply rounded up their political enemies and collected a hefty bounty.

[sandnsea]

28. You used the word "most" yourself

Are you contradicting yourself?

[bottomtheweaver]

31. I've seen no credible proof that ANY are terrorists. Have you?

:shrug:

[jody]

8. That's not acceptable. DoD and DoJ have more than enough lawyers to immediately correct an injustice

that has gone on for nearly eight years.

Any attorney with a degree from the least prestigious law school knows that so why doesn't Harvard educated Obama do what is morally right when he gets the power on 20 January?

[WriteDown]

10. Soon to be won't close in first year....

Meet the new boss...same as the old.

[tan guera]

11. I heard Madeleine Albright say

that he could close it with a swipe of his pen. He's starting to cave in other areas as well. Very distressing.

[Bigmack]

12. I have a dream...

that Obama will discover the power of the presidency... for good, rather than for Bushevil.

All he has to do is turn to a minion and say, "Close it. Move them to other facilities and sort them out. Try them or release them. Do it NOW!"

I don't see the problem.

[2Design]

17. I wonder how many government people could stand 100 days of torture n/t

[bottomtheweaver]

18. McClatchy Newspapers: "the U.S. imprisoned innocent men"

An eight-month McClatchy investigation of the detention system created after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has found that the U.S. imprisoned innocent men, subjected them to abuse, stripped them of their legal rights and allowed Islamic militants to turn the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba into a school for jihad."

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/detainees/story/38773.html

Gitmo is a war crime and Obama needs to shut it down immediately. There is no excuse for failing to obey the law. I'm a US citizen and I have a right to expect my representatives to obey the laws they swear to uphold.

[EFerrari]

26. The IRC was protesting that way back in 2003, iirc. n/t

[Overseas]

20. Just stupid Georgie Boy trying to do a gotcha on the first-100-days thing

Obama clearly restated his commitment to closing Guantanamo but WOOOOOO he didn't want to stay within that magic media friendly 100 Days meme so OOOOOOOOOOOH BIIIIG STORY-- he's not gonna close it within 100 days !!!

Just grandstanding by Georgie boy. Looking for a story while Obama is being strategic about his discussions and not falling into the 100-day frame. If he jumped into that popular box and then didn't close it until Day 120 then it would be --- OOOOH! He lied !!

But he made a strong commitment to restoring the rule of law and habeas corpus, which is very important, and affirmed his commitment to closing Guantanamo.

I can imagine this whole-- Will you do X within your first 100 days? -- series of questions being used to generate lots of HAH! HE'S BACKTRACKING! -- copy for the corporate TV talkers to stir up more hot stuff for TV fodder and to depress progressives further.

On many issues I do believe progressives need to keep the heat on so we can get the best possible legislation, such as universal health care and removing the income cap on payroll taxes, but let's not fall for dramatic condemnation of our PE just because he won't go on a TV pundit chat show and commit to the snazzy little first-100-days framework.

[Pastiche423]

24. Obama campaigned on the idea that he would close Gitmo

w/i his 1st 100 days.

Did he lie then or is he lying now?

What's one more year of torturing men that have never been charged w/anything? Hell, they've been tortured for the past eight years. Certainly that can stand more, eh?

[Overseas]

33. I remember him commiting to close Guantanamo and that still stands

And I was glad to hear him add the commitment to restore habeas corpus.

I have hated the detention without charges since the beginning and still hate it as much as you do.

I think they will have a complex web of illegal activities and practices to correct and hope they'll clean things up as quickly as possible.

[tyne]

48. Do you have any

link to prove that he promised it would be closed within 100 days?

[Abq_Sarah]

49. I don't believe he ever firmly committed to 100 days.

He said he'd start to work on closing Gitmo as soon as he took office. The difference between a campaign promise and now is President Elect Obama now receives highly classified intelligence reports. He is certainly privy to more information than we are and he's not going to do anything that would jeopardize our security or our relations with other nations. A lot of the so-called evidence against detainees is naturally tainted by the method in which it was obtained and that will rule out bringing them back to the USA for criminal proceedings. President Elect Obama is going to have to find a way to release the detainees and countries willing to take them. That's going to be the sticking point. I am absolutely confident it will happen but it's not going to be in his first 100 days.

[jmowreader]

30. Here's how I would do it

Step One is to quit taking new detainees into the facility. President Obama can make that happen in his inaugural address. "Quit sending new people to Gitmo. I'll get you paperwork as soon as I get inside. For now, if you've got detainees on an airplane headed for Gitmo, divert to Fort Leavenworth."

I would next improve the quality of these people's living conditions. The torture stops, and I'd get rid of the torture chambers too...train some of the prisoners to use bulldozers so they can knock it down, then get Marine Corps engineers to blow up the rubble with explosives.

On the second day, we start separating the people who really need to be in jail from the al-Hatfields and al-McCoys, the multitudes who are in there because Bushler decided to pay bounties for "terrorists" without investigating any of them, leading to the jailing of people who did the heinous crime of parking on their neighbors' lawn. Give the al-Hatfields and al-McCoys some money for a home and a Toyota Hilux pickup (the Middle East's favorite vehicle), food and new clothes for their families and a nice Koran, take them home and apologize profusely for ruining their lives. The people who need to be in there can be tried, then jailed in a proper penitentiary.

The last dozen people to be repatriated from Camp X-Ray get to blow it up. Marines will set the explosive charges, the detainees will get to push buttons to set them off.

I think this will take at least a year to complete.

The only problem is, if we blow up Gitmo, where will we put Bush, Cheney, Condi, Rummy and Rove?

[Mnemosyne]

37. We will send them to the Hague, where they belong. n/t

[L0oniX]

32. I'm taking notes.

[Political Heretic]

34. Hey wow, Obama just quoted BUSH

It's not going to get any easier 100 days from now Barack. You just have to DO IT because its RIGHT.

[ozone_man]

39. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Now we get to see if the campaign rhetoric is backed by deeds.

[goforit]

36. Obama will be easily pushed around by people like Brennen, so here we go,...

A presidential apologist with inaction for the next four years.

[SpartanDem]

41. what the hell

He said it was going to close, do you really think just releasing everyone no questions asked is good idea? Most of you people need to shut up, go away and let the man do his job

What abouy this so hard to understand?:

Obama said unequivocally that it will close. "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."

[davidthegnome]

40. Political pressure

Probably most of it (I would hope) from the right wing, is convincing him to "rethink" his intentions, I guess.

Never thought I'd say this... but grow a pair, Mr. Obama.

[Solly Mack]

42. quote - evidence - unquote obtained through torture is far more than just "tainted"

It's criminal.

[Neshanic]

43. Have we looked into putting them into a time machine?

[MadMaddie]

44. The other thing to take into consideration

is that many of the men held their home countries won't take them back. The Obama administration recognizes that it's not as simple as opening the doors.

They can make life easier for the men until the details are worked out.

[Zhade]

50. There is NO excuse to wait. JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED.

NT!