Advisers say Obama preparing to close Gitmo

[BlueJessamine]

Source: Marin Independent Journal

By LARA JAKES Associated Press Writer

Posted: 01/12/2009 12:03:12 PM PST

WASHINGTON—Advisers to President-elect Barack Obama say one of his first duties in office will be to order the closing of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay. That executive order is expected during Obama's first week on the job—and possibly on his first day, according to two transition team advisers. Both spoke Monday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Obama's order will direct his administration to figure out what to do with the estimated 250 al-Qaida and Taliban suspects and potential witnesses who are being held at Guantanamo.

It's still unlikely the prison would be closed any time soon. Obama last weekend said it would be "a challenge" to close it even within the first 100 days of his administration.




Read more: http://www.marinij.com/ci_11435905

[EFerrari]

1. Lara Jakes is one of the AP writers that got a bunch of the anthrax case wrong.

I'd like to see what other reporters have to say.

ETA: But, this is still good news. K&R

[stillcool]

6. I read Obama was on some tv

show today and said the following...

“I don’t want to be ambiguous about this. We are going to close Guantanamo and we are going to make sure that the procedures we set up are ones that abide by our Constitution. That is not only the right thing to do but it actually has to be part of our broader national security strategy because we will send a message to the world that we are serious about our values.”

not that it matters.

[EFerrari]

7. I saw that as well. This AP report had different information in it, though.

I'm not trying to diss Obama. I'm just looking to fact check as always.

[stillcool]

11. According to what I've been reading here..

it is the words that Obama spoke that are problematic.

[EFerrari]

13. For some, I suppose. Obama's team, I suspect, will be surprised

by how much easier closing Gitmo will be than they thought once they are fully briefed, let alone, in a position to ascertain the facts themselves. BushCo has been stalling these cases for years.

I'm more anxious to hear him say he will end rendition as I haven't heard anything about that.

[bluestateguy]

2. Relocate all of the prisoners to deep red states that voted for McCain

The Southern states that fought the auto industry bailout should get most of them.

[EFerrari]

3. Most of those people can go home. Condi didn't cooperate with the repatriation

for those that were cleared because her husband didn't want them on the street where they could talk to a lawyer and sue him.

/oops

[stillcool]

8. I was wondering how many had been released...

this is from 2006

posted April 25, 2006 at 11:30 a.m.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0425/dailyUpdate.html

US to release one-third of prisoners at Gitmo
Critics of the prison hail the announcement as a milestone.
By Tom Regan | csmonitor.com
The same day that the Department of Defense announced that it was going to file charges against more of the detainees being held at the US military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, including the death penalty in some cases, it also quietly announced that it was going to release 141 of the prisoners.

The Los Angeles Times said the US plans to release about one-third of the men being held at the prison because they pose no threat to the United States.

Longtime critics of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility said the release announced Monday marked a significant milestone in the four years the base has been used as a prison for suspected terrorists. The prison has been dogged by allegations of torture and brought choruses of international condemnation, including calls from a UN panel and the European Parliament to shut it down.

Tom Malinowski, Washington advocacy director of Human Rights Watch, said the full significance of freeing the 141 detainees could not be assessed until their fate is clearer.

Reuters first reported on Sunday that about 30 percent of the prisoners had been freed to go home, but remained in custody because the US government had not been able to return them to their home countries. Of the 141 to be released, 22 will be freed in their home countries, while 119 will be transferred "to the control" of their home governments. Pentagon officials refused requests for specifics about the 141 men, even though the department had last Wednesday released the names of all those still being detained. A spokesman said that because of sensitive negotiations with the detainees' countries, their identities would not be released.

[EFerrari]

14. Last time I checked, there were fewer than 200 people still at Gitmo.

But, I haven't updated for months. We've known since 2003 that 80+ % of these people have never been involved in combat or in terrorism in any way.

[Aloha Spirit]

12. I'm totally confused by this... Condoleezza has a husband?

Would appreciate a link

[ellie]

15. bush is her "husband"

they joke about it.

[EFerrari]

16. Knick for Junior, to whom she famously referred to as "my husband"

before correcting herself.

http://www.slate.com/id/2099516/

[Aloha Spirit]

18. How quickly I forget...eh.. repress!

Thanks for the linky...

[pinto]

4. Executive order closing Gitmo to be among Obama's first actions, advisers say

By LARA JAKES | Associated Press Writer
3:15 PM EST, January 12, 2009


WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Barack Obama is preparing to issue an executive order his first week in office — and perhaps his first day — to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, according to two presidential transition team advisers.

It's unlikely the detention facility at the Navy base in Cuba will be closed anytime soon. In an interview last weekend, Obama said it would be "a challenge" to close it even within the first 100 days of his administration.

But the order, which one adviser said could be issued as early as Jan. 20, would start the process of deciding what to do with the estimated 250 al-Qaida and Taliban suspects and potential witnesses who are being held there. Most have not been charged with a crime.

The Guantanamo directive would be one of a series of executive orders Obama is planning to issue shortly after he takes office next Tuesday, according to the two advisers. Also expected is an executive order about certain interrogation methods, but details were not immediately available Monday.

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-obama-guantanamo,0,4423620.story

[Winterblues]

5. and potential witnesses who are being held at Guantanamo.

Do we hold witnesses for year after year now as well?

[Hydra]

9. Sure!

Gotta make sure they crack first so that they lie on the stand for us.

[Piewhacket]

10. The FIRST DAMN thing to do...

FROM DAY ONE
is to make SURE that conditions are humane, proper food, shelter,
and medical aid, access to LAWYERS, and possibly FAMILY (even if
closely supervised) that no TORTURE, PUNISHMENT OR UNNECESSARY
DISCOMFORT is inflicted while prisoners are being necessarily DETAINED
in order to correctly and expeditiously process them OUT OF GITMO.

Sum bitch. Let it damn well be done.

[whopis01]

17. It should be the entire base that is closed.

But this is a good start.