President Barack Obama campaigned on the promise of closing the Guantanamo Bay prison. One of his first executive orders was a promise to close the prison by January 2010. Now that it’s clear that isn’t going to happen, the administration has started looking for someone to pin the blame on.
Enter Greg Craig:
Greg Craig, the top in-house lawyer for President Barack Obama, is getting the blame for botching the strategy to shut down Guantanamo Bay prison by January — so much so that he’s expected to leave the White House in short order.
But sources familiar with the process believe Craig is being set-up as the fall guy and say the blame for missing the deadline extends well beyond him.
…
The White House declined to make Craig available for an interview, or discuss the Gitmo deliberations in detail, but several allies and even some critics scoffed at suggestions that Craig bears the main responsibility for the missteps.
“This clearly was a decision that had the full support of the entire national security team,” said Ken Gude, who tracks Guantanamo issues for the liberal Center for American Progress think tank. “It’s typical Washington that someone has their head on the chopping block, but it’s ridiculous that it’s Craig.”
“The implication that this was the brainchild of the White House counsel is not really credible,” said Elisa Massimino of Human Rights First.
It was Obama’s promise, his executive order and his campaign, yet he is willing to blame someone else when it isn’t carried out as he pledged. One of the things that made John Kennedy a great leader was his taking responsibility for the Bay of Pigs fiasco.
It seems Obama is unwilling to take responsibility for anything.
