Breaking on CNN: The draft order on Guantanamo calls for it to be closed within a year

[cali]

Just reported on CNN, no link yet.

[marimour]

1. good news

[dipsydoodle]

2. Oh - that soon.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

5. That's Actually Quite Ambitious And Honorable.

I don't expect the feeble minded to understand that though...

[dipsydoodle]

11. No its not.

If the USA wanted to detain those there in the first place they should've done so on the mainland which is where they should be moved to now and that wouldn't need a year.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

12. See Disclaimer.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

14. You actually think they can close it overnight?

Sucks to be you.

[Raskolnik]

19. Well no shit we shouldn't have done it in the first place. Bush's fuck-ups are myriad and serious

and, as in the case of Gitmo, are not as easily unwound as we may like. That doesn't mean it shouldn't be done, and it doesn't mean the it won't be done, but it isn't as simple as snapping your fingers and wishing it to be so, unfortunately.

[Raskolnik]

9. As nice as it would be to be able to wave a magic wand and close Gitmo down, that's not how it works

How long do you think it should take? A day? A week? Six months?

[dipsydoodle]

16. How long did it take

for the USA to clear out of Beirut in 1984 ? Four months ?

[cali]

17. Two completely different issues

Pulling out of Beirut did not involve the legal issues that shutting down Gitmo does.

[dipsydoodle]

22. I appreciate your input

although I must confess I don't understand the legalities. In some or even most case those there have been held illegally anyway so I don't really see the law being of much help. I'll be interested to see what the USA subsequently does with the lease from Cuba.

I think you may understand that it is the issue of Gitmo which maybe more than else has demeaned the world's view of the USA since c. 2002.

[TheWraith]

23. Here's the simple version for you.

One, we need to establish some way of sorting actual dangerous prisoners from goatherds and taxi drivers who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Either that's by a set of legal criteria, or by the judgement of a person or group of people. Evaluating those cases is going to be a lengthy process.

Then, we need a system that allows us to do something about the guys who are actually dangerous without having to rely on inadmissible evidence gained from torture. Maybe that's keeping them ourselves, maybe it's shipping them to their country of origin. That determination has to be made too, weighing all the facts available and more importantly the legal and moral implications of each individual decision. All of this is going to take time.

[Raskolnik]

18. We weren't holding several hundred prisoners with incredibly complex legal staus in Beirut.

Bush has created a complicated mess with Gitmo, and that can't be ignored.

[SidneyCarton]

21. So start the impeachment petition already...

One more for the ignore list.

[BlueCaliDem]

3. This is excellent news! Pres. Obama promised he'd work on closing

Gitmo the moment he was in office, and he came through. I wish it could close quicker than that, but I understand that it takes time to close that horrible place. Still, a year is better than nothing.

[Lex]

4. Try the detainees or release if there's not enough evidence to try them.

nt

[aquart]

7. Remember, the evidence is in a mess.

[theboss]

8. Ok....release them to where?

The problem is that a lot of countries won't take these prisoners back...and we can't exactly drop them off in Cleveland.

The Bush Administration created not just a legal nightmare with Gitmo, but a logistical one as well.

[Lex]

10. To Bush or Cheney's neighborhood

preferably.

[bluestateguy]

6. Closing it down is a painstaking process

No one should just assume that everyone there is innocent, but nor is everyone there necessarily guilty. We don't know because there has not been due process. Closing Gitmo is the first step toward having due process for these prisoners (or whatever we are supposed to call them).

[cali]

15. Exactly.

and that Obama is moving toward closing it on his first day in office is a very good thing, despite the moronic bitching of some ignorant folks.

[spanone]

13. thank you Mr. President

[madrchsod]

20. that`s going to take a lot of doing

but these guys and gals ain`t going to screw around. once obama`s people are put in place the "inmates" will be transfered to the federal system or released.

[WonderGrunion]

24. Pardon my ignorance on this matter...

But is this just the prison section getting closed down, or the whole military base. I, for one, see no need of a US base in Cuba. It's a cold war relic and has no real strategic purpose at this point.

[theboss]

25. I can't imagine we are closing down the base

Our lease goes into perpetuity.

[dipsydoodle]

26. Into perpetuity

for "coaling and naval purposes only." Alternative use, such as at present, is a breach of the lease.

[theboss]

27. Well, I don't see it going to court any time soon

Anyway, closing the prison is a necessity.