State Dept. Closes Office Working on Shutting Guantánamo Prison

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Nw York Times

State Dept. Closes Office Working on Shutting Guantánamo Prison
By CHARLIE SAVAGE
Published: January 28, 2013

FORT MEADE, Md. — The State Department on Monday reassigned Daniel Fried, the special envoy for closing the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and will not replace him, according to an internal personnel announcement. Mr. Fried’s office is being closed, and his former responsibilities will be “assumed” by the office of the department’s legal adviser, the notice said.

The announcement that no senior official in President Obama’s second term will succeed Mr. Fried in working primarily on diplomatic issues aimed at repatriating or resettling detainees appeared to signal that the administration does not currently see the closing of the Guantánamo Bay prison as a realistic priority, despite repeated statements that it still intends to do so.

Mr. Fried will become the department’s coordinator for sanctions policy and will work on issues including Iran and Syria.

The announcement came as Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four other Guantánamo Bay detainees facing death penalty charges before a military tribunal over the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, made their first public appearance since October on Monday, sitting quietly in a high-security courtroom at the naval base in Cuba as pretrial hearings resumed. A closed-circuit feed of the proceedings was also shown at Fort Meade.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/29/us/politics/state-dept-closes-office-working-on-closing-guantanamo-prison.html?=&_r=0

[mopinko]

1. maybe the guy was an obstacle.

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. Maybe he was doing too good of a job.

If he was an obstacle, why would they not replace himso that the closing of Gitmo could continue?
Watch what they do, not what they say. instead of

[cstanleytech]

19. Well seeing as its still open the evidence doesnt support that conclusion unless of course

you have something that shows otherwise?

[MissMarple]

2. They may be stuck with it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46979738/

Up with Chris Hayes had an interesting discussion touching on this on Sunday.

[triplepoint]

4. Why is Gitmo STILL Fucking OPEN for Business?

January 22, 2009
Obama signs order to close Guantanamo Bay facility

Promising to return America to the "moral high ground" in the war on terrorism, President Obama issued three executive orders Thursday to demonstrate a clean break from the Bush administration, including one requiring that the Guantanamo Bay detention facility be closed within a year. During a signing ceremony at the White House, Obama reaffirmed his inauguration pledge that the United States does not have "to continue with a false choice between our safety and our ideals." The president said he was issuing the order to close the facility in order to "restore the standards of due process and the core constitutional values that have made this country great even in the midst of war, even in dealing with terrorism." A second executive order formally bans torture by requiring that the Army field manual be used as the guide for terrorism interrogations. That essentially ends the Bush administration's CIA program of enhanced interrogation methods.

Reference Link:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/22/guantanamo.order/index.html

[Angry Dragon]

8. Congress

[cstanleytech]

20. Bingo!!!

Obama might be the commander and chief but he isnt a king and congress has the ability to pass laws and authorize how the government spends the tax payers money or in this case how not to spend it.

[derby378]

5. Well, isn't that special...

One step forward, two steps back.

[Octafish]

6. So when I vote for a guy who says he's gonna close Gitmo and he doesn't close Gitmo...

...that's my fault for not voting for a guy who's gonna close Gitmo.

Something is wrogner than Westworld, if you catch my ECHELON driftnet.

[MADem]

11. Gonna close Gitmo is shorthand for "Ask Congress to pass legislation to close Gitmo."

He' a President, not a king.

[Octafish]

12. It wasn't an act of Congress. A 'president' set up Gitmo...

...remember gov Bush?

Thus, a president should be able to close it down.

Besides and most importantly: Presidents are supposed to lead, on Guantanamo, torture, or any other controversial issue.

You know, as in "Here's something I want to do. Those who are with me, great. Here's why those of you who aren't, should."

Those in the Senate and the House will follow with appropriate legislation, like funding new jobs or clean energy or housing assistance or public education -- all the stuff that requires the political will to accomplish, even before a bill is introduced.

[MADem]

13. A President set up Gitmo via the Congressional Appropriations Process.

No money get spent unless Congress doles it out. Gitmo could not have been built on Bush's say-so. Congress has to authorize the expenditure and assign it to an account (DOD, State, CIA, what-have-you).

[Octafish]

14. Great. So Obama can close it down.

Who cares if it doesn't get funded?

[cstanleytech]

21. Nope, sadly thats not in his purview as president. nt

[BumRushDaShow]

15. See this

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/05/04/guantanamo.closure/index.html

Congress must appropriate the funds to close the base (including paying to move the prisoners, personnel, equipment, secure the property, etc). They refuse to do it.

[Octafish]

16. Thank you. Interesting article. Not much has changed since 2009.

Now that I think of it, that must also be why the NSA still spies on Americans, Congress.

What's worse, Congress can't even tell us about all that. Too Top Secret for them to tell us, the serfs and plebes Lincoln once called "the People."

[davidpdx]

17. It's just typical that some figure the president can snap his fingers and make things happen

I have to wonder if those people have ever bothered to closely read the US Constitution. It's not that long.

In addition to the expenses you listed, I'm sure the US will have to pay the country that chooses to take these people. I'd imagine the entire thing would be pretty expensive.

Per Wikipedia:

On May 20, 2009, the United States Senate passed an amendment to the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2009 (H.R. 2346) by a 90-6 vote to block funds needed for the transfer or release of prisoners held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp

There's no doubt it should be closed, but until Congress appropriates the money it's not going to happen.

[TwilightGardener]

7. Sounds like they gave up.

[cstanleytech]

22. 2015 is coming soon.

Thats when the next base closures are due to be considered plus it hinges on the makeup of the senate and congress still because if played right Obama could try to pressure the closure of Gitmo or atleast making it so its not used as an eternal prison anymore by the US.

[TwilightGardener]

23. That's probably the best plan.

[Solly Mack]

9. k/r

[OnyxCollie]

10. K&R. nt

[woo me with science]

18. K&R

[Beacool]

24. Aaahhhh, Congress..........

Ian Moss, a spokesman for Mr. Fried’s office, said its dismantling did not mean that the administration had given up on closing the prison. “We remain committed to closing Guantánamo, and doing so in a responsible fashion,” Mr. Moss said. “The administration continues to express its opposition to Congressional restrictions that impede our ability to implement transfers.”

It was also hard to find countries willing to take the detainees.