General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMr President, since heads are exploding...
...why not just go ahead and do the full-brain job?
Since you have already used your political capital, why not announce tomorrow that you are releasing 50 more prisoners within the next 30 days? Congress should consider themselves informed.
The American people will support your efforts to end the war in Afghanistan and to release these prisoners that are being illegally held.
As Commander-in-Chief, only you have the authority to release these prisoners. Follow your conscience, Mr. President. Let the heads explode.
underpants
(182,879 posts)Hopefully then something like that will happen
But after the midterms, I have a feeling the president is going to go full on "kiss my ass" mode.
hughee99
(16,113 posts)Since many of their own countries don't want them back, he can just let them go in the US. Then, with no prisoners left, he can close the prison at Guantanamo without any problems.
Oh, this would really piss the repukes off, and since there's no chance that anything bad could come from it, he should do it.
BlueStreak
(8,377 posts)The public will never invest the time to understand the whys and wherefores of technical violations of law that might justify an impeachment trial. So shove that up the GOP's asses. Make them pay. Dare them to impeach you. Dare them.
They cannot do this:
a) Because it would turn you into a martyr with greater popular than ever
b) It would unnerve tens of millions of people who don't want to be upset by radical stuff like that
c) What do you care anyway? You think they want to make Biden President for a year?
They are already accusing you of being lawless. So do the full Monty. Make them back that up.
onenote
(42,761 posts)Should we send them directly back to Afghanistan? Do you think the President is going to do that after making the point that these five are being sent not back to Afghanistan, but to Qatar and under conditions that require them to stay in Qatar for a year?
The President has not indicated that he is unwilling to comply with the requirement that certain certifications be made by the Secretaries of State and Defense and the Director of National Intelligence about the conditions under which the transfer of a Gitmo detainee to another country will take place including certain assurances about the risk posed by the transfer. He just doesn't regard the advance notice portion of the process as binding on him.
So, what your suggesting isn't going to happen and would be a particularly stupid thing to do at this moment.
kentuck
(111,110 posts)that the Taliban was not fighting Americans anywhere except on Afghanistan soil. They were caught in the middle when we went into Afghanistan after Al Qaeda.
Yes, send them back to Afghanistan and get the hell out. It is not our problem and they would not be a threat to America now, as they were not a threat to America then.
There was a reason the five "most dangerous" were sent to Qatar. All along, they were going to be the most difficult to re-locate. If he had given this Congress 30 days, they would have blocked everything, and the jello-spined Democrats would have gone along with them.
All the prisoners are going to be released when the war officially ends. I don't think it would be a stupid move to release these prisoners now but I could see that if you wanted to be extra cautious for political reasons, you might wait until after the mid-term elections? I think it would show him to be a strong President.
onenote
(42,761 posts)have to be, and will be, released?
I ask that because this is hardly a traditional "declared" war (to the extent there are such things anymore), and it seems like rules governing the damn thing have been made up on the fly.
Unlike a "traditional" war, our involvement in Afghanistan isn't going to end with a peace treaty, cease fire agreement, or other multiparty declaration regarding the laying down of arms. We're going to end our combat role in support of our "ally", the government of Afghanistan, while continuing to have a very limited military presence there until at least the end of 2016.
I've seen lots of folks declaring unequivocally that Gitmo has to be cleared out "when the war officially ends." My question is whether anyone in a position of authority has confirmed that understanding.
kentuck
(111,110 posts)"My Precious..."
Afghanistan will probably end like Iraq ended. They will have an election and we will move most of our troops out of their country.
AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)That would be glorious.