ABC News reports that President Obama has sent a plan to close Guantanamo Bay to congress. Good luck, Mr. President!
"We recognize that this is going to be a challenge," he said. "We are going to keep making the case to Congress."
The president’s plan has four primary element, including transferring to other countries detainees who are already designated for transfer. Although 91 detainees are now at Guantanamo, 35 are already eligible for transfer if the administration can find another country to take them. Officials anticipate getting the prison’s population below 60 later this year.
The plan aims at accelerating periodic reviews of authority to detain an individual, prosecuting detainees who are facing charges, and working with Congress to establish a location in the homeland to securely hold detainees who cannot be transferred. Lastly, the president wants to move all remaining detainees to the United States.
Guantanamo Bay, a tiny slice of Cuba maintained as a prison camp to house suspected terrorists, has long been an embarrassment to the U.S. Government, which is accused of abusing, torturing and inappropriately detaining dozens of inmates. But few legislators want its prisoners moved to U.S. soil, and some see its conditions as just desserts for national enemies.
