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Purveyor

(29,876 posts) Wed Mar 18, 2015, 09:57 PM Mar 2015

Obama Says He Should Have Closed Guantanamo On His First Day [View all]

Source: Associated Press

The Associated Press
03/18/2015 8:03 PM

CLEVELAND--President Barack Obama says if he could start his presidency over, he would have closed the Guantanamo Bay prison his first day.

Instead, the president ordered the detention center for terrorism suspects closed within a year. He says the politics around closure grew increasingly tough and "people got scared by the rhetoric."

He said Wednesday that "the path of least resistance was just to leave it open." He's been able to cut the population down to 122 detainees, but Congress has blocked closure.

Lawmakers have banned the Obama administration from bringing detainees to the United States for imprisonment or trial.

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/news/nation-world/article15310265.html

116 replies

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Obama Says He Should Have Closed Guantanamo On His First Day [View all] Purveyor Mar 2015 OP

Oh, well. OnyxCollie Mar 2015 #1

The US will close Guantanamo Bay when Ted Cruz is the president..........of Cuba. Monk06 Mar 2015 #2

He must have ODS. WorseBeforeBetter Mar 2015 #3

Yes, I seem to recall DU legal experts assuring us closing Gitomo would be impossible. pa28 Mar 2015 #5

Fucking directionality of time. jeff47 Mar 2015 #49

What about Bagram? JonLP24 Mar 2015 #4

How can our main Air Force base in Afghanistan be closed former9thward Mar 2015 #82

I'm talking about the prison JonLP24 Mar 2015 #115

Uh, yeah. nt awoke_in_2003 Mar 2015 #6

I don't get it NobodyHere Mar 2015 #7

I don't think so. There was political backlash and it was reflected legislatively. n/t Unvanguard Mar 2015 #14

No. The law blocking closing Gitmo passed later. jeff47 Mar 2015 #48

Interesting NobodyHere Mar 2015 #81

The aforementioned legal experts (see post #5)... WorseBeforeBetter Mar 2015 #83

Fucking time only running in one direction. jeff47 Mar 2015 #106

No, it's a funding thing that Congress explicitly blocked. jeff47 Mar 2015 #105

Just named the #1 Problem with Your Administration and the Dems in General HoosierCowboy Mar 2015 #8

+ Eighty Gazillion Scuba Mar 2015 #40

Exactly.. sendero Mar 2015 #46

Yep. I'm in NC and in awe of the NC GOP... WorseBeforeBetter Mar 2015 #84

Regardless of the cheap shots that pop up from the usual.. I'm so glad the Pres has been working Cha Mar 2015 #9

Exactly Cha, he's working towards closure flamingdem Mar 2015 #24

Oh good, it's Cha Mar 2015 #27

Yes, he's been fixing to get ready to get started to prepare for closing Gitmo for a long time. candelista Mar 2015 #52

your post shows you know nothing about it. Cha Mar 2015 #65

Thank you. candelista Mar 2015 #67

+1 nt steve2470 Mar 2015 #64

It's more than a prison Epoe Mar 2015 #10

Because we have hundreds of others. arcane1 Mar 2015 #13

No one besides Castro has ever suggested we close the base. "Guantanamo" is shorthand for the prison Hekate Mar 2015 #15

Republicans? Ha! The Senate vote was 90-6 and Dems were in the majority. merrily Mar 2015 #29

Actually plenty of people have suggested the base should be closed. Daniel537 Mar 2015 #43

Are you really that naive? Most of us dont care if the base itself remains we just dont want it cstanleytech Mar 2015 #18

Ah yes. Beware the Basselope Gap! Scootaloo Mar 2015 #28

OH NO WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE F4lconF16 Mar 2015 #80

he specifically called us out when liberals asked him why that commitment was not kept. samsingh Mar 2015 #11

I think I see another Executive Order coming down the pike.... Hekate Mar 2015 #12

Can't. jeff47 Mar 2015 #50

Coulda, shoulda, woulda, DIDN'T! blkmusclmachine Mar 2015 #16

Pretty much sums up my view of him. :( boomer55 Mar 2015 #77

The road to hell is paved with good intentions wundermaus Mar 2015 #17

Considering the fact that he'd been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize-yes it would have been a good idea jalan48 Mar 2015 #19

path of least resistance Obama Doctor_J Mar 2015 #20

Well, no shit Prez. O! SoapBox Mar 2015 #21

Would have been easier to wait until after the war crimes trials of W and the Dick.... Thor_MN Mar 2015 #22

Yeah, that would have been the moral Kelvin Mace Mar 2015 #23

Obama's biggest mistake was coming into office thinking he could reason with these people. phleshdef Mar 2015 #25

That entire riff is so played out. merrily Mar 2015 #30

This message was self-deleted by its author 1000words Mar 2015 #32

Thank you. merrily Mar 2015 #33

Wow, I don't even know how to respond to that. phleshdef Mar 2015 #34

No pontificating on my part. You were trying to make the usual lame excuses. They don't wash. merrily Mar 2015 #36

+1000 n/t crim son Mar 2015 #56

You addressed nothing. Facts are not excuses. phleshdef Mar 2015 #79

Teddy's last vote was March 26, 2009. joshcryer Mar 2015 #38

So? merrily Mar 2015 #86

I guess they could've "rolled him out..." joshcryer Mar 2015 #88

Why? They did not need his vote to pass ACA, as you yourself showed in your Reply 38. merrily Mar 2015 #89

Reconciliation didn't pass until March 23, 2010. joshcryer Mar 2015 #90

Yes, passed in2010 and by reconciliation. Again, what part of my post do you claim merrily Mar 2015 #91

"he hauled himself into the Senate" joshcryer Mar 2015 #92

Saying Kennedy hauled himself into the Senate is a personal insult now? wtf? merrily Mar 2015 #93

Yes, expecting an incapacitated man... joshcryer Mar 2015 #94

UNTRUE, but, even if it were, you are not Ted Kennedy. So, how does it personally insult YOU if I merrily Mar 2015 #95

You expected them to "line up the votes." joshcryer Mar 2015 #96

Please stop making up stuff to try to justify your personal insults. merrily Mar 2015 #97

"lined up several votes" joshcryer Mar 2015 #98

Again, nothing about my expectations. Also, irrelevant since his vote was not needed to pass ACA. merrily Mar 2015 #99

You don't get it. joshcryer Mar 2015 #100

The sex trafficking bill currently being filibustered says "Hi". jeff47 Mar 2015 #51

Good thing Democrats finally read that bill, isn't it? merrily Mar 2015 #85

Not quite. jeff47 Mar 2015 #104

PS As you know, there's a huge difference between passing a bill and blocking a bill. merrily Mar 2015 #101

Yeah, I am pretty sure the president was intent from day one on enacting a "moderate republican" Doctor_J Mar 2015 #74

I remember Day One. Shortly before Day One: merrily Mar 2015 #102

There were a whole bunch of blue dogs is right. Both Nelsons, Lieberman, Bayh, Landrieu, Lincoln, still_one Mar 2015 #37

Please see Replies 85, 101 and 102. merrily Mar 2015 #87

Are they still tube feeding the inmates?? CountAllVotes Mar 2015 #26

Can't blame that on Bush. Bagram either. Continuation of extraordinary rendition, either. merrily Mar 2015 #31

This message was self-deleted by its author 1000words Mar 2015 #35

There are many things that you should have done on the first days in office Mr President anotojefiremnesuka Mar 2015 #39

It's like that proposal Obama recently threw out on a free two-year college education. bulloney Mar 2015 #41

Without the talk, you don't win elections. jeff47 Mar 2015 #53

Effin' duh! Android3.14 Mar 2015 #42

shoulda woulda coulda. nt Javaman Mar 2015 #44

there's a lot of stuff he could have done at the start that would have given him more momentum for yurbud Mar 2015 #45

;tldr He's still not closing Guantanamo or releasing its prisoners. Orsino Mar 2015 #47

Feel free to explain how he can do it spending $0. jeff47 Mar 2015 #54

Release the prisoners. n/t Orsino Mar 2015 #59

And they starve to death. jeff47 Mar 2015 #60

Oh, we can keep feeding them. Orsino Mar 2015 #62

Then they aren't released. jeff47 Mar 2015 #63

We're already feeding them. We can keep it up for as long as needed. Orsino Mar 2015 #70

Which means they're still in prison. jeff47 Mar 2015 #71

Precisely. They remain our responsibility until they can live free. Orsino Mar 2015 #72

And you blame that crime on the person who isn't committing it. (nt) jeff47 Mar 2015 #73

Oh, there's plenty of blame to go around, including nearly all of us. Orsino Mar 2015 #75

And I've pointed out that those will not do what you claim. jeff47 Mar 2015 #76

I don't require that the president summon a Patronus. Orsino Mar 2015 #103

International and UN still won't get the job done. jeff47 Mar 2015 #107

Well, if you don't want to change the situation... Orsino Mar 2015 #108

Pretending is what you are doing. jeff47 Mar 2015 #110

I wouldn't care at all whether Gitmo were closed... Orsino Mar 2015 #111

:facepalm: jeff47 Mar 2015 #112

Nope. You are stuck on closing Gitmo, and on the price of airline tickets. Orsino Mar 2015 #113

I agree, but LynnTTT Mar 2015 #55

No Shat, Sherlock! riobravo Mar 2015 #57

That's just one of a long list of things he should have done that day but didn't tularetom Mar 2015 #58

Ridiculous. Sorry, I'm not buying this at all. hughee99 Mar 2015 #61

Some are likely innocent but the majority probably are hardened terrorists. randome Mar 2015 #66

About 75 of the ones remaining have already been declared "free to go" if only hughee99 Mar 2015 #69

ya think? UpInArms Mar 2015 #68

Ah, memories... November 6, 2008...... Flying Squirrel Mar 2015 #78

He had the House and 60 votes in the Senate. Calista241 Mar 2015 #109

What's Clinton's stand on this? Reter Mar 2015 #114

yes, should have closed gitmo first week in office. Thank God he worked on ACA immediately! Sunlei Mar 2015 #116