Obama's Refusal To Reverse Bush Policy In Afghanistan Angers Human Rights Groups

[zonmoy]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/22/obamas-refusal-to-reverse_n_168952.html

Less than a month after signing an executive order to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, President Barack Obama has quietly agreed to keep denying the right to trial to hundreds more terror suspects held at a makeshift camp in Afghanistan that human rights lawyers have dubbed "Obama's Guantanamo".

In a single-sentence answer filed with a Washington court, the administration dashed hopes that it would immediately rip up Bush-era policies that have kept more than 600 prisoners in legal limbo and in rudimentary conditions at the Bagram air base, north of Kabul.

Now, human rights groups say they are becoming increasingly concerned that the use of extra-judicial methods in Afghanistan could be extended rather than curtailed under the new US administration. The air base is about to undergo a $60m (£42m) expansion that will double its size, meaning it can house five times as many prisoners as remain at Guantanamo.

[Idealism]

1. One thing I am very disappointed with Obama for doing. n/t

[Gregorian]

2. I have a feeling.

I think Obama has two reasons for being in Afghanistan. And I think he used it as a way of sounding strong during the campaign. But I think he's preparing for a strenghtened security force during a withdrawal that is forthcoming. And I think he is playing the Bush game to reinforce how ignorant it is to be there, and is going to wait until there is a full public consciousness on it. And is waiting for public outcry. This will focus the public, and make any withdrawal just that more dramatic.

I could be completely full of it. And probably am. But it's a hunch.

[Demeter]

3. I Think They Serve Too Much KoolAid at Cabinet and Defense Meetings

Either Obama is far too naive, or far too out of his depth, or he's just a liar like the rest.

I hope it's not the latter, and that he demonstrates some fast learning, because we can't afford anymore Bush-sized mistakes at home or abroad.

[zonmoy]

4. Sadly I suspect he is the latter and controlled by the same malevolence that controls all the media

that loved him.

[democracy1st]

5. For as long as I can remember he's been talking about increasing Afghanistan forces

[Life Long Dem]

6. Is five times big enough?