Gitmo is on another dely, this time 6 months

[Danno 1,228]

This is the fruit of inexperience.

Claiming/ promising to close Gitmo prison immediately, now he has another 6 month delay.

The truth is, he never had a plan, only a campaign.

Gitmo review delayed 6 months

President Obama on Monday extended by six months a task force charged with determining how terrorism suspects should be interrogated, held in custody or handed over to other countries, putting in jeopardy his promise to close the military detention facility at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by January.

The move came on the same day the president pushed back the release of a congressionally mandated report on the nation's economic conditions, and the White House began to extend a self-imposed deadline for overhauling the nation's health care system.

Pushing back the deadline on how to handle 229 Gitmo detainees, among them five suspects in the Sept. 11 attacks, including accused mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, illustrates just how complicated it is to solve the campaign issue that Mr. Obama this month called "one of the biggest challenges of my administration."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, was blunt in his criticism over the delay.

"Bipartisan majorities of both houses and the American people oppose closing Guantanamo without a plan, and several important questions remain unanswered. But it became increasingly clear over time that the administration announced its intent to close the facility before it actually had a plan," he said.

Six months after Mr. Obama signed the closure order, fewer than 20 of about 245 inmates have been transferred out of the U.S. military base in Cuba.

The White House put a positive spin on the delay, although none of the "senior administration officials" who briefed reporters Monday night agreed to be named.

"The goal in six months is to move through the considerations, file by file, of each of the detainees at Guantanamo, move them to disposition and close the facility," one official said.

The officials used that word "goal" several times, seeming to redefine the firm timetable set by the president to close the facility by Jan. 22. "Well, that is our goal; that's what we're working towards, is meeting the date set forth," one official said.

Senior officials said the administration is no closer to determining what to do with detainees that cannot be charged or released. "There, there may be a category of detainees who for a number of reasons can't be prosecuted, but whom we believe that violate the laws of war and pose a threat to the United States. And decisions with respect to any individual detainee with respect to that kind of longer-term detention [have] not been made at this point," one official said.

The Department of Justice sought to differentiate the review of detainees from the review of detainee policy. "The Detention Policy Task Force and the Special Task Force on Interrogation and Transfer Policies are distinct from the interagency Guantanamo Review Task Force," Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd wrote in a press release, although he grew testy explaining exactly how detainee evaluation can proceed without having in place a detention policy.

A Department of Defense official, though, said the three task forces are not at all connected and are working on separate tracks. But the official acknowledged that even so, "the delay doesn't bode well." ..........(snip)

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/j...6-months/print/

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Sounds like

[HAL 9000 96]

Zzzzz.

I wonder if the critics are aware that the Bush administration didn't exactly leave a central database of evidence. In nearly 8 years of operation, all evidence on detainees was summarily scattered about several Federal agencies. We all know that cooperation between agencies isn't that easy, specially when dealing with matters of National Security- so I wonder why we're trying to play politics with it. More sour grapes perhaps.

[Peikko 1,575]

I agree this is 'no change' from Bush policies. Not surprised no, but let's not forget who created this 'situation'. Hard to see Obama doing something like that in the first place, but the resulting catch 22 is not easy to resolve.

The plus side though, is that under Bush, there was less of a push to do something. At least now there are attempts being made - that is perhaps as big a change as can be expected.

[HAL 9000 96]

I agree this is 'no change' from Bush policies. Not surprised no, but let's not forget who created this 'situation'. Hard to see Obama doing something like that in the first place, but the resulting catch 22 is not easy to resolve.

The plus side though, is that under Bush, there was less of a push to do something. At least now there are attempts being made - that is perhaps as big a change as can be expected.

I see it as the Obama folks stumbling on roadblocks of ineptitude left behind by their predecessors. Lets also keep in mind how many detainees have been removed from Gitmo since they began fixing that mess. That should speak volumes unto itself.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I think the administration can be blamed for at least some of this - they were pretty quick to cite executive privilege in relation to the disposition of some of the detainees - that was back near the start of the year. Amnesty etc. weren't happy about it.

[Danno 1,228]

I agree this is 'no change' from Bush policies. Not surprised no, but let's not forget who created this 'situation'. Hard to see Obama doing something like that in the first place, but the resulting catch 22 is not easy to resolve.

The plus side though, is that under Bush, there was less of a push to do something. At least now there are attempts being made - that is perhaps as big a change as can be expected.

I see it as the Obama folks stumbling on roadblocks of ineptitude left behind by their predecessors. Lets also keep in mind how many detainees have been removed from Gitmo since they began fixing that mess. That should speak volumes unto itself.

Keep drinkin the Kool-aid my friend.

[HAL 9000 96]

I think the administration can be blamed for at least some of this - they were pretty quick to cite executive privilege in relation to the disposition of some of the detainees - that was back near the start of the year. Amnesty etc. weren't happy about it.

True. At least now they're singing a different tune. Congressional oversight is a concept being tossed around regarding this matter.

I agree this is 'no change' from Bush policies. Not surprised no, but let's not forget who created this 'situation'. Hard to see Obama doing something like that in the first place, but the resulting catch 22 is not easy to resolve.

The plus side though, is that under Bush, there was less of a push to do something. At least now there are attempts being made - that is perhaps as big a change as can be expected.

I see it as the Obama folks stumbling on roadblocks of ineptitude left behind by their predecessors. Lets also keep in mind how many detainees have been removed from Gitmo since they began fixing that mess. That should speak volumes unto itself.

Keep drinkin the Kool-aid my friend.

Keep trolling on your own ineptitude.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The issue now is what to do with the people that are in the facility who can't be charged, yet can't be repatriated to their own (or another) country.

Definitely a political issue.

[Danno 1,228]

I agree this is 'no change' from Bush policies. Not surprised no, but let's not forget who created this 'situation'. Hard to see Obama doing something like that in the first place, but the resulting catch 22 is not easy to resolve.

The plus side though, is that under Bush, there was less of a push to do something. At least now there are attempts being made - that is perhaps as big a change as can be expected.

Attempts? he is the President, he said he would close it with executive order (IIRC).

The truth is he had no plan.

Now he realizes this is a complicated issue.

Mix that with political liability and you can see why he is delaying.

[HAL 9000 96]

The issue now is what to do with the people that are in the facility who can't be charged, yet can't be repatriated to their own (or another) country.

Definitely a political issue.

Yep.

OTOH, there's always Texas.

[Peikko 1,575]

Danno, this is politics, it doesn't surprise me - am I disappointed? Only slightly because I personally did not expect anything different.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I'm not really all that surprised Obama has backtracked on some of this. TBH though the War on Terror has been a bit of dead issue for the last couple of years - as more emphasis was placed on Domestic policy towards the end of the Bush administration.