White House To Lieberman And GOP: Sorry, We’re Still Closing Gitmo

[babylonsister]

All I have to say is :applause:

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/terrorism/white-house-to-lieberman-and-repubicans-sorry-were-still-closing-gitmo/


White House To Lieberman And GOP: Sorry, We’re Still Closing Gitmo


The White House is pushing back hard on Joe Lieberman and select Republicans, who are seizing on the thwarted terror plot to renew calls for Guantanamo to be kept open, saying in no uncertain terms that the facility will still be closed because it remains a “national security imperative” to do so.

Lieberman and multiple Republicans have pointed to the would-be bomber’s training in Yemen to argue that closing Gitmo would be disastrous to our security because repatriating Yemenis housed there could let them re-join the terrorists’ war on the U.S.

But a senior administration official emails that plans to close the facility haven’t changed — and that the administration is sticking to its scheme of releasing some detainees and trying or indefinitely holding others. The official says:

The detention facility at Guantanamo has been used by Al Qaeda as a rallying cry and recruiting tool — including its affiliate Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. As our military leaders have recognized, closing the detention facility at Guantanamo is a national security imperative.

The President created the Guantanamo Review Task Force to conduct the thorough work that the previous administration did not: to review the relevant information about each detainee, including the threat they pose, to determine whether they should be prosecuted, detained, or transferred. As he has said before, the President will not release any detainee who would endanger the American people. We have worked cooperatively with the government of Yemen to ensure that all appropriate security measures are taken when detainees are transferred.

Again, what’s striking here is how alone the White House is in making this argument. Congressional Dems have balked at providing key funding necessary to facilitate the transfer of some detainees to rural Illinois.

What’s more, with Republicans using the thwarted plot to amplify their critique of Obama’s broader counter-terrorism efforts, Dems are refusing to step forward and defend the administration’s general approach. Nor are they making the case that the official made above: That even with the thwarted plot, closing Gitmo isn’t a threat to our security.

[jenmito]

1. WooHoo! Our "weak" president sure does seem to stand up to pressure! n/t

[babylonsister]

3. But where are all the supportive Dems?

Read those last two sentences; Obama needs some back-up, and he's not getting any yet.

[MadMaddie]

5. Where are Pelosi and Reid? Where is their leadership?

[jenmito]

6. I think they're worried about looking "weak on terror" and so they're acting tough

as THEY see it. Probably for their own re-election.

[ThomCat]

7. Where do you see in there anywhere

that Obama took anyone to task. :shrug:

Someone in the whitehouse leaked anonymously that the plan to delay indefinitely the intent to close Gitmo eventually is still on track for maybe actually closing Gitmo sometime in the next administration, if they don't delay it again, and if they really do plan to close it and this isn't just a PR move.

Gee, That sure sounds Just Like Obama being strong and personally Telling Off Lieberman and the GOP people to their faces. :eyes:

[jenmito]

9. Since when does "standing up to pressure" equal "taking anyone to task"?

I said he's standing up to pressure from those demanding he not close Gitmo in the face of this latest attempted attack.

[Cha]

8. And, "alone", too..I wonder

why the article says other Dems aren't standing up? I know Senator Dick Durbin was there talking about how the town where the prison is in Thomson, Illinois had sent letters wanting it to be there and how safe it would be.

Edit~ http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/12/some-gitmo-detainees-headed-to-illinois-prison-obama-administration-to-announce-tuesday.html

[Cha]

2. Is there anyway that cheney, lieberman,

et al could be shipped to gitmo and allowed to stay since they like it so much?

Afterall they've earned their special hell on Earth.

[davidpdx]

16. If you were going to do that, send McCain too

Wait...no, that won't work, someone would notice them missing I'm sure.

[Tippy]

17. It would be worth keeping it open if ...Cheney & Lieberman...

were loncked up there...I can think of a few others besides Cheney and Liberman we might send there...

[mopinko]

4. if the previous admin had not completely fucked up

would there even have been a plot? is there any specific info out there about the supposed detainees returned to yemen? or is that some psyops bs?

[Kdillard]

10. Good news.

[monmouth]

11. Pelosi, Reid and our other Dems are on vacation....That's what I'm

concluding here. But, someone, hopefully VP Biden could jump in here and nip this in the bud before every Sunday a.m. talk show dogs this to the bone. Have any Dems been asked to comment? Just wondering.

[Fire1]

12. K&R n/t

[SpartanDem]

13. It's pathetic how little support the WH is getting

[grantcart]

14. "John McCain, John McCain, John McCain has anyone seen the Maverick John McCain"

The missing student, previously known as "The Maverick" campaigned on closing down Gitmo

http://www.smh.com.au/news/us-election/we-should-close-guantanamo/2008/03/27/1206207240495.html
John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has called for the closing of the Guantanamo Bay prison for alleged terrorist detainees.

"I believe we should close Guantanamo," McCain said in a foreign policy address in Los Angeles, where he argued that the United States cannot go it alone in the world and must respect the views of valued allies.

"Our great power does not mean that we can do whatever we want, whenever we want," said McCain, 71.

[Clio the Leo]

15. Sorry fellas, the President is still sending these guys to live in his own back yard...

.... I know you'll be scared in the AZ desert, or in South Carolina, or in Aetnaville, but do try to keep your composure.

[Kablooie]

18. As long as the detainees aren't put in ART THERAPY programs like Bush did.