Gates Backs Obama's Promise to Close Guantanamo: "It Will be a 'High Priorirty'."

[MadBadger]

A couple days old, Read it on the plane this morning from USA today.

Yesterday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who will continue to serve under Obama, disputed Cheney’s skepticism. While Gates admitted that shutting down Guantanamo would be difficult, he said that all the potential problems are “solvable.” “I would like to see it closed,” said Gates. “And I think it will be a high priority for the new administration

In his first weeks as Bush’s defense secretary, Gates also argued that Guantanamo needed to be shut down. According to the New York Times, Gates “urged that trials of terrorism suspects be moved to the United States, both to make them more credible and because Guantánamo’s continued existence hampered the broader war effort, administration officials said.” However, he was overruled by Cheney and then-attorney general Alberto Gonzales

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/12/18/gates-close-gitmo/

[firedupdem]

1. I'm sure they had a nice little conversation prior to him being

kept on...

Obama: Shut that shit hole down

Gates: Yes sir, Mr. President

[lapfog_1]

2. In another press release on the subject...

he allowed that it could take up to 2 years to accomplish closing it down.

Color me disappointed.

[Shiver]

8. It's not an easy thing to do

You have to decide where to move the detainees, arrange for their safety and trials, and likely dozens of legal hoops and bullshit. And I know there are some aspects I'm forgetting.

The torture will have to stop immediately, though. No leeway on that issue.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

3. but...

Rick Warren is a ....

Ooooo I was on overkill again.

I just gave this post a Recommend! This is the kind of news I love to see.

[Pirate Smile]

4. It was posted multiple times a couple of days ago but anything not about you know what gets ignored.

Thanks for posting it again.

WASHINGTON — The Defense Department is drawing up plans to close the Guantanamo Bay military prison in anticipation that one of President-elect Barack Obama's first acts will be ordering the closure of the detention center associated with the abuse of terror suspects.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates "has asked his team for a proposal on how to shut (the detention center) down, what would be required specifically to close it and move the detainees from that facility while at the same time, of course, ensuring that we protect the American people from some dangerous characters," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters on Thursday.

The prison, built to hold suspected terrorists after the 2001 U.S.-led military intervention in Afghanistan, now houses about 250 detainees, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammad and others accused in connection with the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

....
"If this is one of the president-elect's first orders of business, the secretary wants to be prepared to help him as soon as possible," Morrell said. "The request (for a closure plan) has been made, his team is working on it so that he can be prepared to assist the president-elect should he wish to address this very early in his tenure."

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/58143.html

[MADem]

5. Gitmo, the prison...not Gitmo, the base...?

I'm thinking they'll probably not tear the thing down....just leave it there "in case." It's brand-spanking new, and cost a fortune to build.

[Joe Chi Minh]

6. Not half as grandiose as the new embassy in Iraq? Will that receive its

full "complement"?

It seems to me that Gitmo is closely tied up with the Neocons' overt, militaristic, imperialist policies, and its closure a propitious sign that Obama's Administration is not planning on shocking and awe-inspiring, subjugating and plundering the rest of the world any time soon.

[DevonRex]

7. That will go a long way to improve relations around the world.

Thank goodness for that! I wonder if we'll ever know the truth about what happened there, though.