Sources: Gitmo might not close by January

[FLAprogressive]

Source: MSNBC.com

WASHINGTON - The White House acknowledged for the first time Friday that it might not be able to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay by January as President Barack Obama has promised.

Senior administration officials told The Associated Press that difficulties in completing the lengthy review of detainee files and resolving thorny legal and logistical questions mean the president's self-imposed January deadline may slip. Obama remains as committed to closing the facility as he was when, as one of his first acts in office, he pledged to shut it down, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to more freely discuss the sensitive issue.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33027852/ns/politics-white_house?ocid=twitter

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how fucking hard is it to close a prison?

[Ian David]

1. They probably lost everyone's luggage. n/t

[BunkerHill24]

19. Hahahaha...DUzy

:rofl:

[bluestateguy]

2. They are facing a lot of obstructionism from people trying to score cheap political points

Please blame them.

[ixion]

3. Yet another promise broken

it's becoming S.O.P. with the Obama admin. :(

[Baltoman991]

5. Yeah, it's becoming

quite apparent around here that it's a whole lot easier to blame Obama then to actually educate themselves and see the bullshit he has to deal with to get something done.

Oh thats right, he should be like Bush and just do as he wishes. That way those who claim he's Bush III will feel vindicated.

[ixion]

15. apologize for him all you want

he took the job, and the buck stops with the office.

[Baltoman991]

25. Theres nothing

to apologize for. You folks who hate the man sound just like the righties when saying "another campaign promise broken" when it's pure bullshit.

He's going to close it, as promised. Because it didn't happen day one doesn't make it a broken promise to anyone other then those who aren't ever going to be satisfied with anything he does.

[ixion]

27. I don't hate him

I voted for him. I hold him to the same standard I hold any president to. Don't be a schmuck.

[pecwae]

37. Can you not come up with

another "you hate the man" meme/accusation than that lame one? It's forever trotted out at the least bit of criticism. Seems to be the code phrase for "racist" since we all know that anyone who criticizes the President is surely racist.

[Robb]

38. It's actually code for

..."Obama-hating child who trots out 'another broken promise' or 'change, (insert snark)' every time presidential policy doesn't drop a sack of gold at their door in 30 minutes or less."

;) You're welcome.

[BunkerHill24]

22. Obama reiterates promise to close Gitmo

Are you suggesting that he lied about his campaign promise?

[Baltoman991]

26. Not exactly sure

why you addressed your post to me but nowhere did I say he's broken a promise. I was responding to someone who did say it was a broken promise though.

[BunkerHill24]

28. Do you disagree he has broken his campaign promise to close Gitmo?

[Baltoman991]

30. Yes I do

disagree. Should he have given a definite date? Probably not. But the fact remains Gitmo will be closed so there was no promise broken.

[BunkerHill24]

48. I disagree

The promise he made was to close Gitmo unequivocally, and without a timetable....and he failed at that. Hey, never mind about the details, I am sure you'll have hard time in the future defending this presidency on many occasions, were broken promises continue to persist. But I like your spirit thus far, so march on, march on!

[Psephos]

4. No!!! It's impossible!! They SAID they would close it!!!!

oh...

:eyes:

[jtrockville]

6. How hard is it to close a prison you ask?

I remember reading something a while back, shortly after Obama was elected I think, that there were no case files for many of the prisoners there. Who (other than Dick Cheney) could have even imagined that - prisoners with no case files?

I'm glad to hear he's still committed to closing it. Just because it'll be hard, doesn't mean we shouldn't do it.

[frog92969]

31. If there's no case files there's no case

Right?

[WonderGrunion]

36. It's not that simple

No case file means that they may not have any way to find out the prisoners' country of origin. Very little of this has to do with decisions on whether to release the prisoners, but where to release them to. Some, like the Chinese Muslims, cannot be safely returned to their home country and we need to negotiate where they can be relocated to.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

7. He should have ordered the prisoners be transferred to federal facilities stateside, if

their cases were not complete.

This sets the stage for the gulag to outlast his presidency.

[Freddie Stubbs]

8. AP sources: Guantanamo prison might not be closed by January, as Obama promised

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The White House acknowledged for the first time Friday that it might not be able to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay by January as President Barack Obama has promised.

Senior administration officials told The Associated Press that difficulties in completing the lengthy review of detainee files and resolving thorny legal and logistical questions mean the president's self-imposed January deadline may slip. Obama remains as committed to closing the facility as he was when, as one of his first acts in office, he pledged to shut it down, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to more freely discuss the sensitive issue.

The prison in Cuba was created by former President George W. Bush after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as a landing spot for suspected al-Qaida, Taliban and foreign fighters captured in Afghanistan and elsewhere. But it has since become a lightning rod of anti-U.S. criticism around the globe. There are approximately 225 detainees still being held at the prison.

Obama promised soon after taking office — and many times since — to close the prison, arguing that doing so is crucial to restoring America's image in the world and to creating a more effective anti-terror approach.

Read more: http://www.startribune.com/politics/61578187.html

[Avalux]

9. The prison will be closed, just not as soon as expected.

Obama probably shoudn't have given a date but I don't really have a problem with it.

Leave it to the AP to harp on him breaking a promise. Geez.

[Igel]

40. The date was the promise.

Nobody went on record and said that Gitmo was forever. In fact, pretty much everybody had gone on record saying that they wanted to close Gitmo and would close it. But they didn't want to let the inmates free in the US, both because they didn't want it and they knew that there'd be a lot of resistance to the idea. They tried farming out inmates to other countries, with only partial success, until they got the same answer Obama's getting: If they're so safe, why don't you set them free in the US?

However, the former commitment was entirely open-ended.

So what's the difference between, "I'm going to close Gitmo when we can" and "I'm going to close Gitmo in a year"?

The date.

I don't consider it a lie because I think he believed it--he wasn't trying to deceive us into believing something he knew was false. In a way, that makes the comment less harsh. In another, it makes it more harsh: If he fails at his committment it'll be because spoke rashly, with incomplete knowledge, not having counted the cost. The attitude seemed to be that countries weren't accepting detainees because nobody liked *, instead of not accepting them because they didn't want them if the US didn't trust them on US soil.

Obama (or his speechwriter) likes NT allusions: Instead of building his house on sand instead of rock, he'll have started to build a house without counting the cost. He may have just experienced a bit of a cash-flow problem. Still, he proudly proclaimed a date, and now he either humbly keeps it or he comes in for a bit of justified humiliation.

[elleng]

10. I was concerned when he set a date certain;

that's NEVER a good idea in such matters.

[bluestateguy]

14. The media likes deadlines

and so do pushy activists.

[ixion]

18. "pushy activists"

Yeah, you know, those annoying people who want to restore the Rule of Law in the US. :sarcasm:

[elleng]

20. and those are 2 reasons deadlines are bad ideas.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

11. It doesn't matter if the judicial proceedings are complete. He should bring the prisoners here

to the States if to complete it if that's the case, and close the prison on schedule.

[SpartanDem]

13. Congress so far has refused to provide the money to close it

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

16. But this I see as a failure of Obama's leadership or judgment. When he made the call to close Gitmo

perhaps he should have checked the reaction of those Congress and Senate Dems who played "not in my backyard" with the issue, since he was basically shut out by his own allies.

If they'd felt the issue out they could have come up with a better plan or announcement.

As it is, he made a bold, and correct, announcement, with a date, and now not only is it a backtrack but it's unclear when this will EVER happen if he allows it to be held up by his own congressional "allies".

I don't know if he needs to find some LBJ in him and pound some asses. And I'm talking on the Democratic side of the things. Point out that if they allow things like this to sink his presidency, it will sink the Democratic party and threaten their own incumbencies too.

The whole thing is very dismaying.

[timeforpeace]

12. It's the thought that counts.

[Mithreal]

32. Marketing geniuses

Like "Overseas Contingency Operation"

Hang a sign out front "under new management"

Guantanamo Bay Spa and Resort?

Or just ship them all to Afghanistan.

Ugh, I wish I could come up with something as funny as what you wrote. Thanks for the laugh.

[marshall]

29. Close--as in not taking in anymore prisoners?

A turn of phrase can make it sound more logical.

[placton]

17. How Can This Be?

Mr. Obama promises one thing, and does another. It's, it's, almost like a pattern? Let's all argue "shut up" to the poster? :sarcasm:

[WriteDown]

21. As expected. nt

[xchrom]

23. quelle surprise. nt

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

24. There is a big shocker. I'm betting it's not closed by January 2011.

[German]

33. Why not sent them to Bagram :sarcasm:

The Forgotten Guantanamo

Human Rights Lawyer on Bagram Prison


P.S. The german title for "The forgotten Guantanamo" was "With military prisons there is no difference between Bush and Obama"

[TheWatcher]

34. Raelity: Gitmo will never close, The Wars will not end, The Criminals will not be held accountable

For anything, and four years from now, we will still be looking back on most of the promises made during this historic campaign and still be saying "any day now....you just watch. One of these promises will be kept. Then you'll be sorry you ever questioned anything or made a fuss about your Rulers and Overlords."

And the bird cage liner will be changed, in 2008, or 2012, and the game will go on.

And America will Still Think It Is Free.

And I desperately HOPE that I will have to come back and say I was wrong about this post.

I'm betting I won't though.

Because America is in a Coma.

And Comas are rare to wake up from.

[Autumn]

35. That was campaign talk, doesn't mean nothing. n/t

[TheWatcher]

42. Our Country is becoming a Sam Raimi Horror Film

"Awwww, That's Just Pillow Talk, Baby....."

[Autumn]

43. LOL that is a much better term for it

Pillow Talk, Baby.:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[hughee99]

39. No shit, we'll let's start leaking this info out now

so when it doesn't close people won't get pissed all at once.

Of course, Obama is a "chess master" so he could be leaking this stuff out now so when it does get done on time, it will seem like an even bigger victory... Did anyone buy that? I didn't think so.

[TheWatcher]

44. Chess You Can Be Deluded By.

[dolphindance]

41. It's going to get done, and get done right. Obama won't do things sloppy just to meet a date. (n/t)

[ShortnFiery]

45. I hope you're correct and even if GITMO closes,

I fear that the future "torture chambers" are becoming implemented - outsourced - to Bahrain.

http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGMDE110032006&lang=e

http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/2673

[dolphindance]

46. Please believe in our Republic, ShortNFiery. :) (n/t)

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

47. Of which year?

:shrug:

[wpelb]

49. How hard is it to close a jail?

"how fucking hard is it to close a prison?"

I don't think it can be done overnight. For one thing, someone has to decide where the prisoners will go:

Will they be set free?

Will they be sent to other prisons? If so, which?

Will they be deported to other countries? Again, if so, which ones?

However, Pres. Obama seemed to be aware of that when he said that the prison would be closed by January of 2010. That should allow, as FLAprogressive's OP seems to suggest, sufficient time to make those decisions.