Obama Administration Seeks to Close Gitmo Before 2012 Elections

[Dos Equis]

He's going to keep a campaign promise?   

Obama Administration Seeks to Close Gitmo Before 2012 Elections
By Catherine Herridge
Published September 20, 2011
FoxNews.com

Spanish MEP Juan Fernandez Aguilar, left, looks on as United States Attorney General Eric Holder, right, speaks during a session at the European Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011.

Even though the Obama administration failed to close Guantanamo Bay's detention facility by its self-imposed deadline of January 2010, it is now pushing to close it before next year’s election in a clear appeal to the president’s domestic base as well as countries critical of American detainee policy.

Speaking to reporters at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium on Tuesday, Attorney General Eric Holder made a striking pledge to put a new -- and what critics call -- an unrealistic time frame on shuttering the Guantanamo detention camps.

“We have an election that is coming up in 2012, in November of 2012. We will be pressing for the closure of the facility between now and then, and after that election, we will try to close it as well,” Holder insisted.

The attorney general’s statement in Brussels conflicts with reality at Guantanamo, where more than half of the remaining 171 detainees are from Yemen. The alleged al Qaeda and Taliban members cannot be sent home because of ongoing political instability in Yemen.

This week marked the most violent clashes in the capital Sana’a between the opposition and supporters of President Ali Abdullah Saleh that left more than 60 dead, according to Yemeni news reports. The Yemeni president has been in Saudi Arabia since June, where he is recovering from a mortar attack that left him severely burned.

U.S. officials say Yemen is now home to one of al Qaeda’s most lethal and active affiliates that was behind the last two major plots against the U.S. homeland using aircraft. The American born cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, the first U.S. citizen on the CIA’s kill or capture list is believed to be hiding in Yemen as an operational planner for the al Qaeda affiliate known as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

U.S. officials recently confirmed that the CIA would launch a drone campaign in Yemen, similar to the campaign used in the tribal areas of Pakistan, to keep al-Awlaki and the Al Qaeda affiliate’s leadership under pressure to reduce its ability to plan attacks and train recruits.

A former Defense Department official in the Bush administration told Fox News that the Gitmo problem can't be solved until the Yemeni problem is solved.

Recent congressional testimony also shows the number of detainees who were released from Guantanamo and returned to the battlefield, like Kuwaiti national Abdallah al-Ajmi, who was behind a car bombing in Northern Iraq in the spring of 2008, is at an all-time high -- more than one in four.

“Quite right about rate, 27 percent,” Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told a rare joint session of the House and Senate intelligence committees earlier this month.

Senior White House officials have insisted that the Guantanamo camps are a recruiting tool for terrorists, but the administration's new head of the National Counterterrorism Center -- the hub for threat analysis -- seemed to undercut those claims during a recent confirmation hearing.

“Have you seen any evidence that we are safer, or that recruits have fallen off as a result of the president's announcement of his intent to close Guantanamo? “ Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., asked Matt Olsen at the July session.

“I’ve not seen, from, again, my perspective, both on the (Guantanamo) task force and in a much more limited perspective in my current role at the national security agency, anything - in specific response to your question, to that effect, that there’s a change in recruiting based on the current government policy.”

While the White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan recently pushed back against congressional efforts to dictate how the Obama administration prosecutes detainees, the fact remains that there is bipartisan support on Capitol Hill to block the transfer of detainees from Guantanamo.

National Correspondent Catherine Herridge's bestselling book "The Next Wave: On the Hunt for Al Qaeda's American Recruits" was published by Crown on June 21st. Drawing on her reporting for Fox News, it is the first book to investigate Al Qaeda 2.0 and the new generation of digital jihadists. It presents compelling evidence that the cleric, al-Awlaki, was an overlooked key player in 9/11 who double crossed the FBI.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09/20/obama-administration-seeks-to-close-gitmo-before-2012-elections/?test=latestnews?test=latestnews

[240 is Back]

"I'd like to double the size of Gitmo!"   -   Mitt, about 5 minutes before BUSH contradicted him

[Dos Equis]

"I'd like to double the size of Gitmo!"   -   Mitt, about 5 minutes before BUSH contradicted him

11.  When One Side Does Something Wrong, Always Point to Something Wrong on the Other Side

The best part about this one is that it doesn't even have to be remotely related to the thread.

Did your conservative anti-gay rights congressman just take it up the ass?  Well, you better get in that thread and point out that Nancy Pelosi wants free airplane rides.

Did your President just rack up trillions of dollars of debt?  Well, you know what to do...
 

[Soul Crusher]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/checkpoint-washington/post/with-more-space-needed-us-planning-major-expansion-at-detainee-facility-in-afghanistan/2011/09/21/gIQAGD6LlK_blog.html


Boom!!!! 

Obama will close GITMO and send them hear.  more Hope & Change we can laugh at.   

[Dos Equis]

Kasich, Rubio knock Obama's Gitmo plan, Sanders offers praise
By Julia Manchester, CNN
February 23, 2016

(CNN)—It didn't take long for candidates hoping to replace President Barack Obama to weigh in on his plan to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Republican presidential candidate Ohio Gov. John Kasich said Tuesday he "profoundly disagrees" with the proposal.

"These are people, some of them are the worst of the worst. Why would we send them into our country?" Kasich told Fox News Tuesday. "I profoundly disagree."

The President's plan, submitted to Congress on Tuesday, would move the majority of detainees to other countries, while moving those who are deemed too dangerous to an undetermined detention facility in the United States.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio conflated Obama's proposal to shut the facility with turning over the Guantanamo military base, where the prison is located, to the Cuban government.

"We are not giving back an important naval base to an anti-American, Communist dictatorship," Rubio said.

"We are not going to close Guantanamo," he said Tuesday while on the campaign trail in Las Vegas. "In fact, we shouldn't be releasing people there now. These are enemy combatants ... Not only are we not going to close Guantanamo, if we capture a terrorist alive, they are going to Guantanamo and we are going to find out everything they know."

Ben Rhodes, White House deputy national security adviser, said last week the administration is not planning to return Guantanamo to Cuba, saying it "is not on the table as a part of our discussions."

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, also on the presidential campaign trail, also weighed in on the closing of Guantanamo, comparing the situation to when former President Jimmy Carter signed the Panama Canal Treaty, laying the groundwork for Panamanian control of the canal.

"Four decades ago Jimmy Carter gave away the Panama Canal, we built it, we paid for it and then a feckless left-wing president gave it away. Well Mr. President, you don't have the authority to give away vital military assets, and if you do that, you will be held accountable by the next president for undermining the national security of this country," said Cruz.

Capitol Hill opposition

The White House is already facing opposition from Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Rubio also announced he is co-sponsoring a bill aimed at preventing the transfer of the Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay to the Cuban government. Under the Naval Station Guantanamo Bay Protection Act, the President would have to receive congressional approval before "terminating, abandoning, or transferring the 45 square mile lease of land or waterways at the facility."

Further complicating matters for the White House, Obama recently signed the Defense Authorization Act and a Defense appropriations measure into law, which contain provisions preventing the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to the U.S. The White House is expected to say those provisions are unconstitutional.

Support from Sanders

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who visited the prison during a 2014 trip to Cuba, lauded Obama's proposal and sought to use the issue to contrast himself against rival Hillary Clinton.

"I am encouraged to see that the President is sending Congress a plan to shut down the Guantanamo Bay prison," he said in a statement. "As I have said for years, the prison at Guantanamo must be closed as quickly as possible. Others, including my opponent, have not always agreed with me."

Sanders' statement noted he was one of only three senators to vote in 2007 against barring the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to America; then-Sen. Clinton voted for the amendment that kept the prison open.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/23/politics/obama-guantanamo-bay-gop-reaction-2016-election/index.html

[240 is Back]

Trump is the only big republican that isn't addressing the GITMO issue.

Methinks he just might adopt the dem talking point of "we can lock these dicks in supermax, nobody has ever escaped, we dont need GITMO"

he's speaking in vegas, shitting all over the press and cruz.  hasn't touched rubio which further supports my belief they have a deal in place

[240 is Back]

Cruz: "Don't shut down gitmo, expand it and add more terrorists"

Reminds me of Romney saying he wants to double it lol.

[headhuntersix]

You know when you watch a dumb time travel movies and they can't explain away all the unintended consequences of the actors by time traveling etc. That's what closing Gitmo is.....

Just a few things off the top of my head

These assholes will get lawyers who will file writs for this and that
The lawyers won't be cleared for the lion's share of shit they'll need to see in discovery
There may not be proof of half the shit these guys did, especially those we caught early on when we fought a big boy war
There will be countries that were involved in shit with us that will not in any way shape or form want their participation in the GWOT paraded before the world
Where the fuck will witnesses' come from and who the hell pays for that
the security angle of 70 plus trials.

Anyway just another shitbag decision from the biggest shitbag president ever.   

[Dos Equis]

Paul Ryan Vows He'll Take Obama To Court If Gitmo Closes
It's about to get litigious up in this legislative body.
Matt Fuller, Congressional Reporter, The Huffington Post 
ASSOCIATED PRESS
02/24/2016


Speaker Paul Ryan argues that President Barack Obama would be directing the military to knowingly break the law by transferring prisoners from Guantanamo Bay to U.S. prisons.

WASHINGTON -- Speaker Paul Ryan had a simple message for President Barack Obama on Wednesday: We'll take you to court if you close the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center.

"We are making legal preparations if the president tries to break the law," Ryan said on Wednesday.

The Wisconsin Republican said what "boggles" his mind is that Obama would be directing the military to knowingly break the law by transferring prisoners from Guantanamo Bay to U.S. prisons in an effort to close the detention center.

"Our law is really clear," Ryan said, adding that it was Democrats who first wrote the language barring detainees from coming to American soil.

Those provisions have been codified annually in the National Defense Authorization Act, and Ryan pointed to the bill and the strong bipartisan support it enjoys as evidence that there's a majority in Congress who would vote to override an Obama veto of not closing Guantanamo.

That may be overstating the case, of course, as the last time the House voted on an amendment during the NDAA debate to close the detention center, the proposal was rejected 174-249, more than 30 votes short of the two-thirds majority required to make law without the president's signature.

But Ryan's vow to pass legislation to keep Guantanamo open is far less serious a challenge than the legal one he's threatening.

A GOP leadership aide told The Huffington Post on Wednesday that the House had already, under Ryan's direction, “entered into a contract for advice concerning legal options should the president unlawfully transfer Gitmo detainees in an amount up to 150k.”

While that certainly wouldn't be enough to actually sue the president, it is a start in building the legal argument that will be made to make the public relations case.

House Republicans have already shown a willingness to sue Obama. A judge ruled in September that they had standing to sue the president over his selective implementation of the health care law, and they have open cases on his executive action on immigration and the administration's lack of compliance on subpoenas related to the "Fast and Furious" investigation.

Those cases, however, are far more tenuous than a potential legal challenge on Guantanamo. As Ryan insisted, the law is clear that the president can't transfer detainees to American soil. The military can't even spend a dime to modify a detention facility in preparation for a move.

It's unclear how exactly Obama will move forward with his Guantanamo plan. He was emphatic Tuesday that he wants to close the prison, something he pledged to do in his first days as president as a candidate in 2008.

But his administration has acknowledged that doing so without Congress' consent would be unlawful. And if Obama does try to fulfill his Guantanamo promise, it looks like House Republicans are ready to take it to a judge.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/paul-ryan-obama-guantanamo-lawsuit_us_56cdd184e4b041136f18f984

[Dos Equis]

Sen. Ron Johnson Demands Obama Reveal Where Gitmo Jihadis Will Be Transferred

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 17: U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) speaks during a news conference December 17, 2015 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The senator urged the Senate to pass a major tax package that includes a permanent tax relief for American small businesses. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Alex Wong/Getty Images
by Jordan Schachtel
26 Feb 2016

Senator Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, has pushed forward legislation that requires President Obama release to the public information on the future whereabouts of enemy combatants currently held at the Guantánamo Bay detention center.

Sen. Johnson introduced the Terrorist Release Transparency Act on Thursday. Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, also submitted a companion bill in the House.

In a statement, the Wisconsin Senator demanded the White House unclassify details pertaining to the transfer plans for the jihadis held at Guantánamo.

“The American people deserve to know when and where President Obama plans to transfer detainees currently held at Guantánamo Bay. The information should be public, not hidden by unnecessary classification,” Sen. Johnson said in a statement on his website. “Many of the former Guantánamo detainees transferred to foreign countries have gone on to re-engage in terrorism, or are believed to have done so. The threat posed by the terrorists held at the Guantanamo facility must be addressed seriously and transparently.”

As the bill notes, the Guantánamo Bay detention facility continues to hold Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, and several of his fellow Al Qaeda jihadis.

The legislation argues that the “decision to classify” these details on coming transfers prevents “the American public from knowing pertinent information about the release of these individuals.”

If passed, the bill requires that the Secretary of State “submit to Congress an unclassified notice before the transfer of any individual detained at United States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the custody or control of the individual’s country of origin, any other foreign country, or any other foreign entity, and for other purposes.”

There are now less than 90 detainees remaining at the facility, which once held over 500 enemy combatants.

Some of those released have returned to the battlefield to wage jihad against the United States.

Ibrahim Al Qosi, a former detainee at Guantánamo, has become a chief spokesman for Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which has been described by the intelligence community as the most dangerous branch of Al Qaeda.

This week, a former Guantanamo detainee was arrested by Spanish counterterror units on suspicion that he was a member of the Islamic State, and actively recruiting for the terror group.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/02/26/senator-ron-johnson-demands-obama-tell-the-american-people-where-he-plans-to-move-gitmo-jihadis/