Guantanamo Bay has seen a decade as a detainee facility

A controversial anniversary: It was ten years ago to the day that the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba was turned into a prison facility, designed to house suspected terrorist detainees indefinitely, pending a process of oft-criticized military tribunals. For the Obama administration, this was an occasion they once hoped (and indeed promised) would not happen; the President’s first full day in office was marked with the signing of an order to close the facility within a year. Three years on, and the failure to fulfill this promise (as well as the absence of any earnest public explanation of it) does beg the question: was this truly a moral issue for the President, or simply a made-to-order, feel-good issue to stoke a liberal base? Check the link for a very thoughtful piece on the anniversary of Gitmo from The Atlantic’s Andrew Cohen. (photo by Paul J. Richards, AFP/Getty Images) source

Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

» Why the change? In November of 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder angered a lot of people (mostly Republicans) by announcing that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others implicated in masterminding the 9/11 attacks would be tried in civilian court, as opposed to military tribunals. Now, Holder has changed course. He blames the change of plans on Congress, which passed legislation barring federal funds from being used to transfer GITMO detainees to the US. However, President Obama signed that legislation, so the White House can’t cry foul too loudly here without being just a tad hypocritical.

Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

Mr. Obama risks turning Mr. Bush’s mistakes into his own or, in the case of the photographs, turning Mr. Bush’s cover-up into his own.
The New York Times • In an editorial denouncing both Obama’s decision to not release photos of prisoner abuse in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the continuation of military tribunals. They admit that Obama’s getting drama over it from both ends, but they think he’s not doing enough to take a stand against Bush’s systemic failures. (We agree.) • source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Jan 2012 14:10