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(Image Source: Foreign Policy)
BY MATTHEW PICHT
President Barack Obama may finally move one step closer to fulfilling a long-awaited 2008
campaign pledge. A speech scheduled for Thursday might herald the beginnings of another push
to close the infamous Guantanamo Bay prison.
After Obama reiterated his desire to see Guantanamo Bay closed at a press conference last month,
political support began building for another attempt at shutting down the facility. (Via
PBS)
Foreign Policy has a collection of letter transcripts sent to the President from senators
and representatives urging the President to take action.
The president's initial push to close the prison stalled in Congress, and it's not clear
how Obama intends to persuade his opponents this time. (Via CNN)
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham points to the administration's lack of a viable alternative
to Guantanamo as evidence the prison should remain open. (Via CBS)
While the President may not be able to persuade Congress to close the prison, there are actions
he could take to address the situation. Former chief military prosecutor Col. Morris Davis
told Voice of America, many of the detainees have been cleared for release, and need only
an executive seal of approval to be transferred home.
"A joint task force made up of the CIA, Department of Justice, FBI and Department of Defense
unanimously agreed that these 86 men didn't commit a crime, we don't intend to charge
them, they don't pose an imminent threat ... Yet still they sit there, year after year after
year."
Obama's statement will come at a tumultuous time in Guantanamo's history. NPR notes after
the president's State of the Union address made no mention of closing Guantanamo, inmates
began to take matters into their own hands.
"More than 100 of the 166 prisoners there are on a hunger strike. Thirty of them are
now being force-fed. The detainees told guards they stopped eating because they felt they'd
been forgotten."
And writer for Wired says Obama has yet to address the real threat behind Guantanamo:
the indefinite detention without trial of its inmates.
"What stops Obama from opening Gitmo's doors is the fear that some detainees will proceed
to take up arms against the U.S.; and the political backlash that might follow an end
to indefinite detention. Until Obama is willing to face either objection squarely, Guantanamo
won't close. It'll only move."
The President is expected to address all of these issues in his speech Thursday, along
with clarifications to his drone policy. The speech will be held at the National Defense
University in Washington.