Why is Gitmo still open?

[Xenotime]

Can somebody explain to me how this is still open when a President has ordered it to be closed?

[dipsydoodle]

1. Its called change

you can't believe in.

[vaberella]

5. Obviously for you it's called, you don't have the facts. n/t

[Ter]

31. So it's closed?

Didn't hear about that, thanks for the info.

[madmax]

8. Ouch! nt

[vaberella]

2. It's not a from a lack of trying. The Senate won't allow it to be closed. Links added:

Basically Obama needs somewhere to put the prisoners. It seems that some of the maximum security prisons are in red states. There's a major fight about putting those people at Gitmo in maximum security prisons in the United States.

So Obama's been stalled. He's stalled by Repubs and Dems. Not to mention he was asking for several million so he can go about shutting it down. That was shot down.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30826649/
http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2009/05/senate_blocks_obamas_guantanam.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/20/us/politics/20detain.html

[rug]

27. Those links simply refer to transferring them into the U.S. It can still be closed.

[vaberella]

38. It can't be closed if you have no where to put them.

How do you have a closed prison with prisoners?! That doesn't make sense.

[emulatorloo]

3. Republican party of NO

[vaberella]

6. Democrats are 100% responsible in that block as well! n/t

[emulatorloo]

What about the dems that wanted Gitmo to close?

[jenmito]

16. There weren't enough of them. n/t

[vaberella]

40. Logically?! They were the minority. n/t

[niceypoo]

4. The republicans jumped up and down and threw a tantrum

...which usually results in them getting their way.

[vaberella]

7. It helped that they had a good number of Demoractic supporters. n/t

[niceypoo]

9. There are a certain number of political coward Democrats that automatically capitulate...

...every time the GOP jumps up and down and throws a tantrum. Thank God half the Blue dogs LOST in the midterms.

[Imajika]

10. Because Obama can't count on his own party...

...to support him on this. The President can't even do the trial for KSM in New York because Democrats oppose him on it.

Where are you going to put the detainees if the Congress won't approve funding to house them anywhere else?

And please don't say he should let them all go, because that would be a complete disaster for him.

[JoePhilly]

14. +1

[Pirate Smile]

11. Let me introduce you to Congress...

[Billy Burnett]

12. So we can accuse Cuba of having a gulag on the island?

No matter what the US gov has accused Cuba of, the US has always been able to outdo anything Cuba was/is accused of. In spades.

[4lbs]

13. This thread is proof that most people only have a 3 month memory when it comes to politics.

Anything older than that is forgotten.

[Township75]

17. So refreshen everyones' memories.

.

[4lbs]

18. Here are some:

"Congress won't pay to close Gitmo"
March 14, 2010

http://www.politico.com/blogs/politicolive/0310/Boehner_on_Gitmo.html?showall



"Civil Liberties Groups Oppose Obama's Plan to Close Gitmo"
April 8, 2010

http://washingtonindependent.com/81679/civil-liberties-groups-oppose-obamas-plan-to-close-gitmo-absent-serious-changes

<snip>
In an indication of the full-spectrum pressure that the Obama administration is facing on its plan to close Guantanamo Bay, today a coalition of major civil liberties groups — the very groups that have led the charge to close the island detention facility since its 2002 inception — sent a pained letter to Congress urging members to oppose the planned closure unless President Obama drastically modifies his approach.

The Pentagon is seeking about $350 million in its Afghanistan funding authorization to buy the Thomson Correction Center in Illinois. According to a senior administration official who briefed reporters on the plan to close Guantanamo in December, the facility will house detainees either convicted by military commissions or held in some form of indefinite detention without charge. To civil libertarians, that would entrench some of the most intolerable legal abuses of Guantanamo Bay in the name of ending it, rendering the shutdown of the facility Pyrrhic at best and misleading at worst.
<snip>

So, Obama's plan to relocate the Gitmo prisoners to Illinois was met with protest.

[Township75]

19. Thanks for posting.

I read both links.

So according to the first article, there was not support in the overwhelming Democratic congress. The second was about civil liberties organizations...I guess they were happier with them at Gitmo?

If these are the reasons Obama keeps Gitmo open, they are pretty weak, and make him look weak as a president. He can't get support in his own congress? I guarantee, Bush 1 and 2, and Clinton woudl have that placed closed if they wanted to with majorities like Obama has. And if a group protesting is enough to stop his political will, then he is really bad.

Personally, I think Obama let this drop because he didn't care enough about it once he was elected to push it forward. I think he used it to rally the troops in the election, and that was it. Granted, I can be persuaded otherwise if I see convincing evidence, but so far, the fight was dropped too easily for me to think otherwise.

[Hippo_Tron]

25. I guarantee they couldn't have

This wasn't just a case of Conservadems and Republicans obstructing. You had just about every member of congress screaming at the top of their lungs "over my dead body will you put this prison in my district". The fact is that people are stupid and they don't understand that it's impossible to escape from a supermax prison. They think that a bunch of people who don't blend in and speak no English whatsoever will break out of prison then come blow up their house.

The only solution I can think of is to build the prison in Puerto Rico or Guam where they aren't allowed to vote and don't have members of congress representing them.

[vaberella]

39. I posted this in my post...it was shot down as still being able to close.

crazy...

[Arkana]

15. You can ask our NIMBY Congress which was full of asshole Republicans

and craven Democrats.

[kowalski1]

20. Its all about fear

The republicans will paint him as a weak president and in turn cause him to lose election and support amongst the sheeple voters. Its the same reason why we r still in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Iraq

[Milo_Bloom]

21. Failure to LEAD.

[AtomicKitten]

23. Horseshit.

Senate Blocks Transfer of Gitmo Detainees:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30826649/ns/politics-capitol_hill/

House Panel Deals Gitmo Closure Major Setback:
http://washingtonindependent.com/85355/house-panel-deals-gitmo-closure-a-major-setback

Democrats Block Funding to Close Guantanamo:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104334339

Congress Says There'll Be No Illinois Gitmo:
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/publius-forum/2010/05/therell-be-no-gitmo-illinois-congress-says.html

Republicans Try To Block Guantanamo Detainees from State Prisons:
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/02/17-2

[Milo_Bloom]

24. Exactly. Failure to LEAD.

He couldn't even get his OWN PARTY on board.

[AtomicKitten]

29. Ah, a civics scholar.

http://www.universalclass.com/i/course/american-government-101.htm

[cliffordu]

33. ya can't fix stupid

but I admire your effort....

[Milo_Bloom]

36. Still doesn't explain his leadership failures.

[treestar]

41. content free criticism

[Catherina]

22. "Gitmo is going to remain open for the foreseeable future."

"Gitmo is going to remain open for the foreseeable future." - White House official

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/12/AR2010111207508.html

There are still 174 illegally-detanined kidnapped prisoners Guantanamo Bay. Good question.

There are 173 other men still at Guantanamo. Many face the same knot of complications as Djamel. Resettlement is not as difficult as the administration is making it out to be. The main hurdle is that the United States refuses to accept even a single man from Guantanamo within its borders.

Guantanamo is a crime against humanity. It is our crime against humanity. It is a crime carried out first by President George W. Bush and continued now by President Barack Obama.

As January 11, 2011 approaches-- the ninth anniversary of the opening of Guantanamo to "war on terrorism" detainees -- there should be a hue and cry and pressure on the Obama administration to decisively right the wrongs of Guantanamo. A first step is resolving the cases of Djamel Ameziane and so many others who remain in a brutal purgatory sanctioned by the same administration that promised, on January 22, 2009, to end this suffering and injustice.

Human rights organizations and anyone of conscience should commit themselves to action and education and outreach on this issue, so the United States does not end up marking a tenth year of Guantanamo and a third year of broken promises.

http://www.fpif.org/articles/trapped_by_guatanamo

[Life Long Dem]

26. Because Boehner is scared to relocate the prisoners to the states.

They can't live in the states because they are so dangerous even though they are innocent until proven guilty.

The Republicans block everything.

[golfguru]

28. Why do we still have 50,000 troops in Iraq?

[GSLevel9]

30. crickets? nt

[cliffordu]

32. so you have an excuse

to snivel and piss on the administration

[boppers]

34. It's been leased since 1903, and it was built in 1898.

That's not a typo, Gitmo has been running since the 19th century.

No president has ordered Gitmo to be closed since it was established.

That would be, well, insane.

Here, learn some history:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_Naval_Base

Perhaps you should re-phrase your question.

[de novo]

35. The Dems failed. The more important question is why aren't we willing

to charge and try all the detainees. The Obama Administration has claimed the power to detain people, without charge, forever.

[polichick]

37. Because the president talks one game and plays another. nt