According to reports in CNN and other news agencies, Obama plans to give the order to close Gitmo.  He, however, doesn’t think it will happen within the first 100 days:

"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 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."

But speaking of “releasing people who are intent on blowing us up”:

The Pentagon said on Tuesday that 61 former detainees from its military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, appear to have returned to terrorism since their release from custody.

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said 18 former detainees are confirmed and 43 suspected of "returning to the fight."

Returned to terrorism?  I thought these folks were just scooped up off the street, innocent bystanders to a criminal and dangerous Bush regime. 

I will agree with Obama on one point.  These are some “very dangerous” people.  If he closes down Gitmo and brings them to the states for trial, what will happen when most of the cases are dismissed because the state cannot prove why they were detained? 

The real goal of Guantanamo’s critics is to have these killers treated like common criminals in American courts. That would make it impossible to deny them the full array of U.S. legal protections. In many cases, prosecutors would lack enough evidence to convict them under normal trial rules, especially if much of the evidence were classified. Soldiers don’t build a criminal case like "C.S.I." sleuths when they’re snagging an enemy on the battlefield while also trying to avoid getting killed.

The result of bringing Gitmo detainees into U.S. criminal courts would inevitably be their widespread release–which means leaving them free to kill Americans again. The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point recently examined the non-classified evidence about Gitmo detainees, and in a new report concludes that 73% were a "demonstrated threat" to U.S. forces. No less than 95% were a "potential threat."

This is one of those things where Obama’s damned if he does, and damned if he doesn’t.  If he doesn’t close it, he hurts his brand with the left.  If he does it, and it results in most of these “very dangerous” people being released, he hurts his brand with the normal Americans.

This is such a big promise, he has to do something.  I suspect he will issue the order, the sit on the issue for a very long while.  What do you think?

Photo Credit –

Elaine Vigneault

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