Obama To Close Gitmo On Day 1 ... Sort of

Well, I guess that depends on what the meaning of "close" is. I can't believe the AP actually had the nerve to run this bit of Obama CYA for his base. Oh wait, what am I saying? The AP is part of Obama's base. Obama will immediately order Gitmo closed, ... eventually. Or something like that. Tom Maguire has more on President-elect Uh-bama's backpeddling including on torture.

WASHINGTON (AP) — 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.

Comments

[IslamoLlama]

All together now, kids.

"That's not change we can believe in!"

Now get on my shoulders and help me lift this bar. If Obama doesn't have Gitmo closed and every detainee prosecuted or confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt to no longer be a threat before January 18th, I'm declaring the entire administration a failure.

Given that Riehl was jacking off to Mitt Romney's "We ought to double Gitmo" like he was at a pornographic blackjack game, I'm not really seeing why poor Danny has a problem with Obama handling Guantanamo Bay methodically.

Is the complaint that Obama isn't being reactionary enough? Are you still waiting for the Che Guevera-style revolution? The Great Leap Forward?

Seriously, no wonder you didn't vote for the man. You have absolutely no idea what his policies are.

[Lala]

I vote that they all be put in public housing in Chicago -

LEAVENWORTH, Kan., Jan. 5 (UPI) -- The two U.S. senators from Kansas say they don't want terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to be transferred to the Fort Leavenworth U.S. Army base.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/01/05/Kansas_senators_dont_want_Gitmo_detainees/UPI-43981231184124/

[Lala]

Since that AP story seems to be "Leaked" maybe it's in response to this -

'It Is More Difficult Than I Think a Lot of People Realize'

"Yes, it's more difficult than people realize, but good luck explaining that to the angry left."

"President-elect Barack Obama said this weekend that he does not expect to close Guantanamo Bay in his first 100 days in office. "I think it's going to take some time and our legal teams are working in consultation with our national security apparatus as we speak to help design exactly what we need to do," Obama said in an exclusive "This Week" interview with George Stephanopoulos, his first since arriving in Washington.

"It is more difficult than I think a lot of people realize," the President-elect explained. "Part of the challenge that you have is that you have a bunch of folks that have been detained, many of whom who may be very dangerous who have not been put on trial or have not gone through some adjudication. And some of the evidence against them may be tainted even though it's true. And so how to balance creating a process that adheres to rule of law, habeas corpus, basic principles of Anglo American legal system, by doing it in a way that doesn't result in releasing people who are intent on blowing us up."

http://jammiewearingfool.blogspot.com/2009/01/it-is-more-difficult-than-i-think-lot.html

[Lala]

Jammie Wearing Fool had his article up yesterday and Instapundit linked it. I see Maguire's says the same thing but I think Instapundit might have had more of an impact.

[JustOneMan]

"a challenge" to close it even within the first 100 days of his administration."

How come after Barry gets elected all of his promises are "a challenge"? Sounds just like the excuses provided by every other affirmative action employee and/or appointee...

[mark l.]

just caught ron suskind on hardball-

paraphrasing-response to matthews asking him why we haven't been attacked by AQ:

"They've called off all attacks on the US. Cheney knows it..."

absolute delusion.

[eaglewingz08]

It's not more difficult than most people realize, ones with brains, ones who are conservative, ones who have military and intelligence experience, in other words anyone other than a liberal knows that. Obama usually says, lots of other people don't know such and such, whenever he doesn't have a clue about some policy and then takes the assbackwards libtard position. Then when the policy he advocates turns into the turdball it always was for anyone with half a brain to see, he trots out that trusted phrase, that nobody he knows, or nobody could have guesssed, or most people couldn't have foreseen what any high school conservative could have told him.

[SacTownMan]

"They've called off all attacks on the US. Cheney knows it..."

You know Mark they've all been a little busy ducking those Preditor drones and their pesky Hellfire missles over there.

Give Barry a chance will ya, He's surrounded himself with lots of the old Clinton hacks and we know how well they protected us prior to 9/11. Well besides the Cole, the first WTC attack, misc. bombings and those other "little distractions" that is!

[mark l.]

the full Suskind(Hardball) quote, in response to bush taking credit for preventing a subsequent terrorist attack since 9/11-

I don't think he has a point. Here's why. What the President knows from his own briefing{singluar}that Al-queda has not been in attack mode in the United States. there were attacks that had been called off and they have said that they "will be patient" and that the next attack will be bigger than 9/11. Bush knows that from his own briefings.

To say that we haven't been attacked..."

(Chris Matthews cuts him off and moves on quickly but Suskind returns to topic)

"Well, what I'm saying is no one should be patting themsleves on the back that Al-Queda has not reattacked the United States. Bush knows that, he knows the Al-Queda playbook..."

Matthews:(cutting him off again) Why haven't they attacked?

Suskind: well becuase Al-Queda has said and we have picked up signal intelligence they're gonna wait until they can get a bigger WMD attack in the United States. They've called off attacks in the US.

This is the (garbled-)'premise'(?) the President and the Vice President knows. My point is that to say we haven't been attacked and that's a mark of victory...Bush, himself, knows is not coherent.

(fineman trys to talk suskind off the ledge)

Suskind is politically deranged.

[Lala]

From CBS.

After he takes office, Barack Obama wants to close the prison for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. But if it's shut down, what does the government do with all those detainees?

CBS News national security correspondent David Martin has exclusively learned that the president-elect's transition team has already asked the Pentagon what it would take to move the prisoners at Guantanamo to the Navy base at Charleston, S.C.

Many of the about 250 Guantanamo detainees are cleared for release, but the Bush administration has been unable to find a country willing to take them. . . .

The plan being developed by Obama's team has been championed by legal scholars from both political parties. But as details surfaced Monday, it drew criticism from Democrats who oppose creating a new legal system and from Republicans who oppose bringing terror suspects to the U.S. mainland. . . .

One challenge will be to figure out what to do with the 90 or so Yemeni detainees, the largest group in the prison. The Bush administration has sought to negotiate the release of some of those detainees as part of a rehabilitation plan with the Yemeni government. Talks have so far been fruitless.

http://patriotroom.com/article/great-news-obama-may-move-gitmo-terrorists-to-charleston--sc-

[Lala]

Have a good laugh - Congress on youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avch-fRFmbw

[ET]

slightly off topic...Hitchens on the State Department (of Clinton):

http://www.slate.com/id/2208425/

[ET]

And another Sowell gem...

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/01/pretty_talk_and_ugly_realities.html

Let's hope barry abandons the liberal, pacifist, apologetic rhetoric of the campaign and figures out the harsh realties of international relations...sooner than later.

[MarkJ]

I propose we simply resettle the detainees in the states or districts currently represented by Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Dick Durbin, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and...Roland Burris. Shucks, if Al Franken squeaks in, let's also send a few detainees to Minn-eh-so-tah. I'm sure they'll have a blast chewing qat with the Somalis.

[scaramouche]

As commander-in-chief of the military, presumably all he has to do to close Gitmo (a military prison) is to tell the military to ship the prisoners somewhere else, and to close up shop there.

Presumably, they'll follow his orders.

It doesn't seem that difficult to me.

[IslamoLlama]

"-- Give Barry a chance will ya, He's surrounded himself with lots of the old Clinton hacks and we know how well they protected us prior to 9/11. Well besides the Cole, the first WTC attack, misc. bombings and those other "little distractions" that is! --"

Ignorance is bliss, baby. It's not like Bush wasn't on watch during bombings of US Embassies in Yemen or the train bombings throughout Europe or... you know... 9/11, not to mention the over 4k troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan in bombings that occur on a virtual daily basis.

If you really want to whip out national security penises and compare size, you're going to have a hard time making Bush measure up to Clinton. At least Clinton never spent half a trillion dollars invading the wrong country.

[templar knight]

I think the liberals who post here should get at least one detainee each for their real nick, and one detainee for every sockpuppet they post under. Should just about clear everything up.

[IslamoLlama]

Hey, I'm all for that TK. If I could take an abused, unlawfully captured, innocent victim of the latest wingnut crusade in the Middle East into my home, I would do it in a heartbeat.

Those guys deserve worlds better than they got. Some would say that, as an American, I am on the hook for the crimes committed by my government. I'd be happy to have an opportunity to help pay it back. Of course, this whole "Cloth the naked, feed the hungry, comfort and heal the sick, visit and set free the prisoner, and care for the widows and orphans" shtick is a little to Christian for the folks around here. So I can understand when guys like TK recoil at the idea.

Pawning off victims of persecution as "punishment" for the charitable and merciful is a rather sad and deluded mentality. But its par for the course in conservative circles.

[North Dallas Thirty]

LOL....try the schtick somewhere else, IslamoLlama, since we know exactly what you and your fellow moonbats are doing.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/02/10/terror.trial.lawyer/

[Lala]

Dallas, wasn't one of Stewart's poor misunderstood clients the one who stabbed the guard in the eye?

[Lala]

Uhoh

"The demonstrators, waving Palestinian flags, some chanting "Death to Obama," had gathered outside the Swiss embassy which handles U.S. interests because Tehran and Washington have not had diplomatic ties for nearly three decades.

Pictures obtained by Reuters showed the president-elect's image laid on the road for cars to drive over it, and other images showed demonstrators burning the Obama poster.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKTRE50C4IQ20090113

[templar knight]

Sure you would, Moe, sure you would.

[WAHOO WILLIE]

I think we should send them to Boston and place them on house arrest until they get a fair trial. Of course they should have all rights of citizenship, and a check with which to buy fertilizer and diesel fuel while they wait.

[IslamoLlama]

"-- LOL....try the schtick somewhere else, IslamoLlama, since we know exactly what you and your fellow moonbats are doing. --"

*yawn* Guilty by association isn't a fun game if you don't mind getting tagged back.
http://forthardknox.com/2008/01/18/former-republican-congressman-accused-of-aiding-islamic-terrorists-and-receiving-50k-in-return/

At least Stewart wasn't getting $50k kickbacks.

[North Dallas Thirty]

Great example, IslamoLlama.

I can demonstrate proof of this person being condemned by conservatives.

http://michellemalkin.com/2008/01/16/former-congressman-indicted-as-part-of-terror-fund-raising-ring/

Now let's show what leftists and Democrats like yourself are doing for Stewart.

http://www.lynnestewart.org/