Obama and Gitmo

[billynomates]

Obama to miss Guantanamo deadlines
White House officials acknowledge delays in deciding what to do with the detainees. The president had pledged to close the military prison by January.
By Greg Miller and David G. Savage
July 21, 2009
Reporting from Washington -- Obama administration officials said Monday they would not meet self-imposed deadlines for deciding what to do with scores of detainees too dangerous to release from the prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The delays, involving those who cannot be tried, raise questions about whether the White House can close the prison by January, as President Obama pledged when he took off

Although officials said the deadline still would be met, a task force studying the issue was expected to deliver its recommendations by Jan. 22 -- exactly one year after Obama issued his executive order to close the prison within a year.

The officials said they had made substantial progress in reviewing the cases of the approximately 240 prisoners at the facility, and had decided that dozens of detainees were eligible for transfer to other countries or were suitable for trial.

But the officials acknowledged that two reports that were supposed to be delivered to the president by Wednesday -- one on how to overhaul the nation's detention policy and another on interrogation policy -- would not be ready.

Officials emphasized the complexity of the issues and their desire to find solutions that would be acceptable to Congress but could withstand a court challenge.

"We want to get this right and not have another multiple years of uncertainty," one senior administration official said in a background briefing with reporters at the White House. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the deliberations.

Civil liberties groups expressed concern Monday that the White House was planning to preserve the ability to hold some prisoners indefinitely.

"The Obama administration must not slip into the same legal swamp that engulfed the Bush administration with its failed Guantanamo policies," said Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union. "A promise deferred could soon become a promise broken."

Administration officials said they had not retreated from their January deadline to close the facility. "To meet the requirement of the executive order -- that is our goal," one official said.

But the administration has given a six-month extension to the task force examining detention policy. The delay means the recommendations for devising a system for the indefinite detention of those considered too dangerous to release but impossible to try may not be delivered until Jan. 22.

You can't blame this on Bush! One of his 'Yes we can' pledges when electioneering.. This was so important to the people who voted- how far has he got? bribed Bermuda to take some and ....Obama delivers!

[billynomates]

Obama stated when accepting the Nobel peace prize ( love the way he worked Gandhi and Martin Luther King into speech) that he will close close Gitmo. Hasn't he made that promise before or had he forgotten?

[maverick35]

Old Mav realizes exactly Gpes that old Mav did no not fall for any offers by Obama that he would close the Quantanemo Bay Cuba prision whutever and so cuz where do you send those held there alas who r they r they Afghanistan Al Quieda terrorists if so send them back to Afghanistan simple enough enuff butt no not they gotta complicate the thing by no not allowing the details of who they r where they were captured why were they taken to Cuba alas old Mav realizes another Western super power flexing its own muscles like they do against old Mav and so old Mav is lucky they no not take old Mav seriously and so ship them back to Afghanistan if that is where they r from right RIGHT butt no not they gotta make a complicated mess of a relative simple procedure thing whutever and so sorry right... sorry old Mav