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Executive Order Being Prepped: PEBO to Close Gitmo
January 12, 2009 5:55 PM
ABC News has learned that the Obama Transition Team is working on drafting an executive order for President-elect Obama to sign that would close down the Detention Camp at Guantanamo Bay.
The order could possibly be signed as soon as President-elect Obama's first day in office, Jan. 20, and is likely to be signed that first week after he's been sworn in.
The plans were first reported by the Associated Press.
During his presidential campaign, Mr. Obama called Gitmo a "sad chapter in American history" and pledged to shutter it as soon as he could.
On This Week, Mr. Obama told George Stephanopoulos that "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."
Mr. Obama said the process of closing the camp "is more difficult than I think a lot of people realize. 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 Obama didn't mince words about the future of the camp.
"I don't want to be ambiguous about this," he said. "We are going to close Guantanamo and we are going to make sure that the procedures we set up are ones that abide by our Constitution. That is not only the right thing to do but it actually has to be part of our broader national security strategy because we will send a message to the world that we are serious about our values."
-- jpt
January 12, 2009 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (129)
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Looks like Barack is off to a great start, on track to keep his word and restore some international credibility for the US
Posted by: coffee | Jan 25, 2009 6:29:20 PM
T thank you for your service but a small bit of advice.
Ignore the keyboard warriors telling you what is brave.
You already know more than they ever could.
Posted by: Ryan C | Jan 13, 2009 4:51:30 PM
dave----that woudl be a start for us...we must stop getting into others lives. we took away the land from the palestiniens and gave it to the jews. and you wonder why they hate us. we told bin laden if he fought the soviet union we would help him out he did and we abandoned him.....all we do it seems is use to people to get what we want and then say the h with you. thats why the world hates that and we seem to think it is manifest destiny to spread our style of government to all nations.
Posted by: T | Jan 13, 2009 4:44:38 PM
"I love how right wingers complain when assault weapons (such as machine guns) are banned in inner cities and want to torture any and everybody that shows a sign of disagreement and somehow favors the death penalty"
Torture is not bad if done to others according to right wingers.
These are the same yahoos who live in the MidWest yet remain terrified of imminent terrorist attack.
That is why right wingers are dangerous in their cowardice.
Posted by: Ryan C | Jan 13, 2009 4:38:35 PM
I love how right wingers complain when assault weapons (such as machine guns) are banned in inner cities and want to torture any and everybody that shows a sign of disagreement and somehow favors the death penalty. It seems the Republicans want to inflict more pain and death on people then any liberal does yet somehow liberals are anti-american. I guess to conservatives Americanism is pain, torture, and death to everybody.
Posted by: MM | Jan 13, 2009 4:17:01 PM
Apparently, our new president is an idiot.
Posted by: someone | Jan 13, 2009 2:16:42 PM
"Great. Instead of dropping water down terrorists' noses to obtain vital information that has possibley saved millions of American lives,"
One problem with your Keifer fantasy....torture did not lead to any such scenario.
Bush was lying as usual.
What is with the right wing fetish with torture?
Posted by: Ryan C | Jan 13, 2009 1:47:10 PM
Where exactly does PEBO intend to
send the terrorist prisoners at Gitmo?
I hope he considers sending them to his
home state of Illinois.
They would feel right at home there!
Seriously though is this fool going to
expose us to this vermin and allow them
to spout their hatred in our courts?
What happens if some of them escape?
Why not just invite Bin Laden and his group over for a chat in the
White House? What a Dope!
Posted by: reaganfan | Jan 13, 2009 1:04:43 PM
I keeping with our nation's self-proclaimed title of 'Home of the Brave' the Democrats have the courage to uphold our principles.
Posted by: Skip | Jan 13, 2009 12:11:33 PM
I think hkdakota hit it on the head- Obama will prepare some order to close it down and the leftists will declare victory and smoke up.
The reality will be a lot of paper shuffling where things drag out over years. Prisoners get transfered to Guam or Afghan prisons and 'progressives' forget all about the issue. There will probably be a few cuddly types who are trotted out to be give full pomp and circumstance trials, complete will earnest law students volunteering and amicus curiae briefs by wholesome NGOs. There will probably be at least one international observer. The terrorists will be given sentences ranging from picking up litter from IEDs to administering discounted AIDs drugs to undeserved minorities in Darfur for Project RED.
Posted by: BertieW | Jan 13, 2009 10:21:11 AM
T
Wow, "concentration camp" huh?
I forgot that we are starving and gassing inmates there on a daily basis. What in the heck are you talking about??
Those filthy, stinking, terrorists get the occasional water dropped down their noses and you traitorous liberals compare that to treatment at Auschwitz. That is very scary and very sad.
Liberals really will not stop until America stands up and says...
"Terrorists, you were right! America is an evil country and you deserve to want to kill us. What can we do to make you like us more?"
Posted by: dave | Jan 13, 2009 9:31:19 AM
I can almost see the obamania news headlines if we are, God forbid, attacked again....
"Unfair Treatment at Gitmo Created Hostile Prisoners, Lead to US Being Terrorist Target...".
Liberals honestly need to be exposed for that traitors that they are, and have been, long before even Vietnam. They certainly aren't rooting for America to win. They want see this country dissolve its boarders and become part of the EU or something ridiculous like that.
Posted by: dave | Jan 13, 2009 9:26:09 AM
all the people in gitmo are guilty. but we should abide by the geneva convention and close that consentration camp down there. america has gotten so evil under bush and his republican nazi,s we must clean up after him and appologize to the world for going astray. thankd god we have elected a desent god loving man instead of the demon we have had.
Posted by: T | Jan 13, 2009 9:23:17 AM
Great. Instead of dropping water down terrorists' noses to obtain vital information that has possibley saved millions of American lives, let's just release all of the prisoners there. Or atleast send them to prisons suitable to Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn's standards. You know, with tennis courts, three course meals, health professionals on staff......
Honestly, what part of the fact that out of all of the dirty, stinking, terrorists released from gitmo in the past several years, more then a 1/4 have been caught by the US when they were once again trying to murder US soldiers?
Barry O is not a fool. He will simply do everything he can to make the US as weak as possible in the world while at the same time appearing to to be attempting to strengthen us as a nation.
You don't listen to...
"Goddamn America",
"America created the AIDS virus to kill young Africans",
"America is the worst terrorist nation in the World",
and not have that crap rub off on you.
He obviously agrees with much of it or he would not have stayed for 20 years and brought his children to hear that kind of filth.
Posted by: dave | Jan 13, 2009 9:13:36 AM
Our present enemy does not keep POWs. After a few days they murder our troops. It is time we repay the favor and do the "Eye for a Eye" thing. How much of our tax $$ do you think is spent harboring these thugs and keeping them special fed? They get a lawyer, our people get their necks shaved!! If Obobo sets them free....let it be done in Chi-Town. Maybe some of the killing they do will be aim at the worst political Regime to hit these United States!
Posted by: American Infidel | Jan 13, 2009 8:53:24 AM
Yes Jack, and the aliens we captured at Roswell helped master mind the plot.
Posted by: hkdakota | Jan 13, 2009 8:17:46 AM
Obama will sign the order to close Gitmo, however for security reasons they will take a year or 2 to completely do so. This way Obama can say he kept his promise while the miitary can still gleen as much info as possible before deciding what to do with this scum!!!
Posted by: hkdakota | Jan 13, 2009 8:11:57 AM
Yes, it does sound like he's going to handle the situation in the best way possible.
Almost none of these people have been proved quilty of anything. Some will be found guilty. For some there will be no proof and perhaps no guilt. It's quite likely that some are not guilty at all.
I'm glad to see the United States will be moving in a better direction.
Posted by: pefros | Jan 13, 2009 6:42:40 AM
Close the Bastille!
Posted by: Mark | Jan 13, 2009 6:28:41 AM
Why close Gitmo? Isn't it a prison? Aren't we holding terrorists that want to destroy the US? I do not believe we should be having tea parties at Gitmo. They are prisoners that should be interrogated and detained as if you are in a, come on, say it, PRISON!!! Doesn't Obama know the difference. Lord help us. Why don't we all just let them free in our country and invite them into our homes with open arms. I'm sure they don't want to hurt us. And this is what the new President Elect President Barack Hussein Obama wants to do? Huge surprise.
Posted by: J | Jan 13, 2009 6:07:05 AM
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