Goodbye Guantanamo, We Knew You Too Well
Almost everyone who has paid any attention to any sort of politics whatsoever in the last eight years has heard of the dreaded detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Since late 2001, when prisoners from the war in Afghanistan began being brought there, the prison has been plagued by one scandal after another. The controversial technique known as water boarding, a technique now deemed an act of torture by the U.S. government, was only one of the many scandals that the detention center was involved in. Upon his inauguration, however, President Obama signed an executive order, stating that the prison was to be completely shut down in one year.
Nine months into his term, President Obama and his staff are finding that closing the Guantanamo Detention Center is going to be much harder than originally believed. Of the many challenges involved in closing Guantanamo, the questions of where the prisoners are going to go is the greatest issue. While the administration originally planned on moving prisoners onto American soil, they are finding that most prisons are very unwilling to house them. According to the Washington Post, the White House needs to find “50 to 60 facilities to house prisoners who cannot be released and who cannot be tried because of legal impediments” which will not be easy.
Unfortunately for the President, time is running out to keep his promise to the American public. Back in January, when he first took office, Obama promised to have the Center closed by next year. Now, in late September, Obama Administration officials are starting to say they’re going to be hard-pressed to keep that promise to the people. Oh well. Thanks to the past eight years, the American public is used to the executive branch breaking its promises. Politics as usual in Washington, D.C.
-Riley G.
Friday, September 25, 2009
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5 comments:
I think it wil lbe intereasting to see how Obama deals with this perdiciment
"The transfer produced a diplomatic rift. British and U.S. officials said the Obama administration gave Britain two hours' notice that the Uighurs were being sent to Bermuda. "They essentially snuck them in, and we were furious," said a senior British official.
The move also caused friction between Britain and China, which seeks the Uighurs for waging an insurgency against the Chinese government."
We should have sent those prisoners to China; they'll deal with them quite nicely.
And why Britain when there's a place called Australia to dump the rest of our criminals in?
But seriously now, send the criminals to countries that want to punish them, and pay a fee to a host country in a remote place for accommodating our "special" guests.
I am very happy that they are closng this down even though it is taking amillion years. I just dont understant how the U.S could capture all these prisioners using thousands of dollars and now it is going to get shut down. What is going to happen to theses inmates? Are they going to be realesed? I would definantlety love to see what is going to happen with this situation.I hope this iis a definante and poistive choice for Obama.
I guess don't make a promise if you don't even have a plan. I know from experience that the pressure to think of an alternative doesn't come until the deadline is extremely close. =D
Dumping criminals on other countries wouldn't be a smart way to handle it. Yes lets associate these criminals.. if they all are criminals.. with prison inmates that dance for Youtube publicity. Yayyy.
It is nice hearing about the potential Shutting down of guantanimo bay after such a long time. When I first learned about the way prisoners have been treated in those prisons, I was shocked.
Not only did this prison leave a more negative view on the U.S government, but a lot of people had suffered there too. Now, I am wondering what will happen to the prisoners that were confined there.
-Sebastian Escobar
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