Pentagon staff writing plan to empty Guantánamo camps

[seafan]

Source: Miami Herald

WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates has asked his staff to draw up a plan for closing the U.S. detention facility at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba should President-elect Barack Obama order a shutdown, a Pentagon spokesman said.

Gates, who will stay on at the Pentagon under Obama, wants to have a plan in hand in case the new president opts for a quick closure of the detention facility, spokesman Geoff Morrell said today at a press briefing.

He has asked his team for a proposal on how to shut it down, Morrell said.
During the presidential campaign, Obama said the facility for detaining terrorist suspects should be closed because of widespread international condemnation of it and complaints of prisoner abuse there.

.....

Not just that he believes closure is the right thing but that the president-elect has made it perfectly clear he wishes to address this issue early on, so the secretary wants to be prepared to assist him to figure out a solution to problem, Morrell said.
The facility opened in 2002 and about 250 men are now held there.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/818501.html

[Pirate Smile]

1. It looks like Obama wants it done quickly after he is sworn in.

"Gates' motivation for requesting the review was two-fold, Morrell said.

Not just that he believes closure is the right thing but that the president-elect has made it perfectly clear he wishes to address this issue early on, so the secretary wants to be prepared to assist him to figure out a solution to problem, Morrell said.

The facility opened in 2002 and about 250 men are now held there.

Obama's transition team is studying the option of suspending the military commissions convened by the Bush administration to try some Guantánamo detainees for alleged war crimes, according to military lawyers who spoke with members of the president-elect's team.

Such a suspension would allow for a case-by-case review of the 19 detainees facing war-crimes charges, said the military lawyers, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Obama criticized the military commissions during the presidential campaign. He has called for trying the detainees in either federal court or military courts-martial."

[jimshoes]

2. The only reason for guantanamo was to carry out

unlawful and illegal detentions and interrogations. I'm guessing Obama plans to operate within the confines of the law and human decency on day one so no need for offshore gulags such as Guantanamo. The bush/cheney nightmare years cannot end soon enough.

[bleever]

3. K&R.

Make it so.

[Kdillard]

4. Kick for good news.

[kpete]

5. Gates orders development of plans to close Guantanamo

Source: McClatchy

Gates orders development of plans to close Guantanamo

* Posted on Thursday, December 18, 2008

By Jonathan S. Landay and Margaret Talev | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — The Defense Department is drawing up plans to close the Guantanamo Bay military prison in anticipation that one of President-elect Barack Obama's first acts will be ordering the closure of the detention center associated with the abuse of terror suspects.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates "has asked his team for a proposal on how to shut (the detention center) down, what would be required specifically to close it and move the detainees from that facility while at the same time, of course, ensuring that we protect the American people from some dangerous characters," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters on Thursday.

The prison, built to hold suspected terrorists after the 2001 U.S.-led military intervention in Afghanistan, now houses about 250 detainees, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammad and others accused in connection with the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Obama, who's asked Gates to stay on as his defense secretary, has said that he wants to close the prison within two years of taking office on Jan. 20. Gates also has spoken publicly about the need to close the facility.



Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/58143.html

[mike_c]

6. that roaring sound you hear...

...is Dick Cheney grinding his teeth. Looks like he'll have to go back to downloading underground snuff films, or perhaps reopen the basement "studio" at the ranch....

[bobd0]

7. Great news. Now when do the war crimes trials begin for the real criminals?

Guantanamo has been at the center of allegations that the Bush administration authorized the use of aggressive interrogation techniques that are considered torture under international law.

...

A Senate Armed Services Committee report published earlier this month blamed senior U.S. officials — including former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and retired Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — for the use of those techniques.

...

Vice President Dick Cheney, a key proponent of interrogation techniques such as waterboarding, which creates the sensation of drowning, said earlier this week in an ABC News interview that Guantanamo should be kept open indefinitely.

Donald H. Rumsfeld

Air Force Gen. Richard Myers

Vice President Dick Cheney

That seems like a good list, just for starters.

[sarcasmo]

8. Rec #1 this needs to happen, a big disgrace to this country thanks to Cheney.