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

[TeamJordan23]

Obama: Gitmo Likely Won't Close in First 100 Days
Closing Guantanamo Bay More Difficult Than People Realize, President-Elect Says
By MARY BRUCE

Jan. 11, 2009 —

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."

But 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."

Obama said that he is not ruling out prosecution for crimes committed by the Bush administration and left open the possibility of appointing a special prosecutor or commission to independently investigate abuses of power and illegal activity.

Obama's comments came in response to the most popular question on his own Web site, www.change.gov, which has received 23,000 votes on the "Open for Questions" portion of the site. Bob Fertik of New York who runs the Democrats.com Web site asks Obama, "Will you appoint a special prosecutor -- ideally Patrick Fitzgerald -- to independently investigate the gravest crimes of the Bush administration, including torture and warrantless wiretapping?"

"We're still evaluating how we're going to approach the whole issue of interrogations, detentions, and so forth. And obviously we're going to be looking at past practices and I don't believe that anybody is above the law." Obama said. "But my instinct is for us to focus on how do we make sure that moving forward we are doing the right thing. That doesn't mean that if somebody has blatantly broken the law, that they are above the law. But my orientation's going to be to move forward."

When pressed by Stephanopoulos as to whether he will instruct his Justice Department to investigate such accusations, Obama deferred to his nominated attorney general, Eric Holder.

"When it comes to my attorney general he is the people's lawyer... His job is to uphold the Constitution and look after the interests of the American people, not to be swayed by my day-to-day politics. So, ultimately, he's going to be making some calls, but my general belief is that when it comes to national security, what we have to focus on is getting things right in the future, as opposed to looking at what we got wrong in the past."

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

[glowing]

1. Where do you put them, how do you sort out who's who and why they are there.

They literally have to go case by case and see what is going on... Then if they are innocent, what do we do? They are clearly going to be different than when they were first put in.. tortured, abused, detained, criminalized.. even if innocent. How much therapy, money, and freedom do we give someone who would now rightly want to enact revenge... the bushies made it a nightmare situation.

[crikkett]

3. We're talking about hundreds of people, too, probably all of them permanently damaged. eom

[merh]

4. I'm watching Obama with George S.

He wouldn't commit to being able to close Gitmo within the first 100 days, he said he couldn't because there are hundreds of folks held there that have been held there for years without due process and some may well be pretty bad people that did bad things but the evidence against them has been tainted.

ABC's headline is just their negative slant - he never said that closing gitmo wouldn't happen within the first 100 days, he just wouldn't he wasn't going to state certainties.

[glowing]

5. Exactly, you can't just throw them on a plane and send them back.

In some of these countries, they'd be killed as soon as they got off the plane. We've made them country-less, hopeless, and abused. Perhaps, once we figure out legalities, the innocent one's could be moved into aptments and treated for the abuse they suffered; then again, if innocent, we have no authority to hold them.. so we may be releasing future terrorists.

[awoke_in_2003]

17. "what do we do?"

Give them huge cash settlements and hope they don't come back to bite us. In the last 8 years, we have done a remarkable job of creating people who would love to kill us.

[crikkett]

2. If there's a special prosecutor, I wouldn't want to see Fitzgerald get that job

Gut reaction. It's a good thing that I don't have a say in the matter.

[mtnsnake]

6. Amen to that. n/t

[mtnsnake]

7. He is shutting it down, period

If it takes him a little longer to do than first realized, it'll still get done ASAP.

[nodramamama]

8. ACLU has said "There is no room for patience or delay"

Asking for Obama to close Guantanamo and declare torture illegal on day 1.

http://www.aclu.org/safefree/detention/37734prs20081110.html

[Zynx]

10. There are logistical matters that prevent everything from happening on day one.

[Arkana]

16. You cannot physically do this. Detainees need to be moved, cases need to be reviewed,

all kinds of shit has to happen before Gitmo's doors close.

[Clio the Leo]

18. Then let the ACLU adopt them all.

Take them home with them. Feed and clothe them.

[treestar]

9. This is not at all unreasonable

The things people will expect of him in his first 100 days are going to be outrageous - look at what they expect him to accomplish before being inaugurated!

[davsand]

11. Look for conditions to improve on day ONE.

We have it to deal with, and I agree with Obama that it has to be done within a legal system that is acceptable to the world courts. One of my biggest arguments with the current regime was the fact that they pissed all over our Constitution, and this is a classic example.

These guys sitting in Gitmo are screwed if we just open the doors and say "There ya go--go home." Our Country is screwed if we turn loose a few real terrorists that are even MORE pissed off than they were before they got tortured for a while. This is not an easy fix and I respect hell out of Obama's team for trying to do it within a legitimate legal system.

Having said all that, I think we all have a right to expect and DEMAND that conditions in Gitmo conform to every standard applied in the American system or whatever standard is acceptable to the rest of the world (Geneva Convention, maybe? Amnesty International? Red Cross?) We may need some time to fix the mess dubya created, but we sure as hell don't need to continue the abuses.


Laura

[Dumak]

12. Even if they can't close it right away, they can

hire additional personnel to monitor what is going on, interview prisoners, and gradually remove the personnel that have a pattern of abuse/torture.

[Kdillard]

13. I was very pleased with Obama's take on the situation. It must be done

but we can't do it in a fashion that would lead to more problems or chaos.

[Jennicut]

14. I hope he gives these people their due process

If they are guilty, put them in a real jail. Prosecute them for something. Its going to take a long, long time to sort this mess.

[Arkana]

15. Unless Obama can get Barbara Eden to "I Dream of Jeannie"

all the detainees out, I wouldn't expect him to be able to close the prison in 3 months.

I'm not worried--he said over and over during the election he'd close Gitmo.