White House: Congress’s Fault Gitmo Isn’t Closed

Obama Totally Wants to Close It, Officials Insist

Despite doing exactly nothing to actually close the facility, and loudly praising Congress for defunding his first pledge to do so for lacking an actual plan, the White House insists President Obama totally wants to close Guantanamo Bay, and that it is entirely the fault of Congress that the facility remains open.

“It is the president’s view that facility ought to be closed,” insisted Press Secretary Jay Carney, accusing Congress of raising “obstacles” to the closure that kept President Obama from fulfilling his campaign promise.

President Obama promised to close the facility within a year of taking office, but after issuing a single, ill-defined plan more or less scrapped the matter. Earlier this year, he shut down the only office involved in considering the shut down, guaranteeing that no officials will be involved in trying to close the site throughout President Obama’s second term.

The issue has become more serious recently, as detainees, many of them cleared for release for years, engaged in hunger strikes to protest their continued detention, and over the weekend troops cracked down on detainees, forcing hunger strikers into solitary confinement, sparking a clash with them.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.