After taking office in 2009, President Obama promised to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center within the year. Six-plus years later, the facility is no closer to being closed, and the White House is looking for a new scapegoat. Right now, that seems to be Defense Secretary Ash Carter.
Officials say that Carter’s predecessor Chuck Hagel was ousted in no small part because he wasn’t doing much to close the site, and Carter was selected because they figured he was more supportive of the plan. Yet the White House is complaining Carter is even slower in releasing people cleared for release, noting Hagel released 44 in two years, and Carter has only released six overall.
The Pentagon insists that Carter is as committed to closing the site as Obama is, and just wants to do so “responsibly,” which at the current rate suggests it won’t be closed at all before the end of Obama’s term in office.
In this regard, it may be fair to say Carter is exactly as committed as President Obama, since he made no real efforts to close the site back in 2009, and then let the matter drop for several years after Congress started complaining about the idea. The recent insistence that Obama is once again extremely serious about closing Gitmo comes, conveniently, with no real chance it will happen, and someone else to blame.
Pres Carter pardoned the Vietnam draft resisters the first day he took office. The right wing noise machine, which was not as well-developed in those days before the internet, pummeled him but he had the backbone to take the criticism and move on. Obama is unwilling to stand up to the right wing noise machine on Guantanamo prison (I hate the word "Gitmo", making the prison sound like some short name for a municipal airport.) He wants to go on late night TV shows and "be loved".
First, I don't believe Obama ever wanted to close the place…well, he didn't want to have to fight to close it. Second, the current secdef made it clear from the beginning during his confirmation hearings that he was not inclined to close GITMO. Of course he was trying to influence the warmongers who were questioning him but I don't believe he wanted to close it. I also believe Obama knew that before he nominated him.
US will never close Guantanamo bay military installation, it is outside of our Supreme Courts jurisdiction and no American Media will ever write but the pentagons press releases.
Guantanamo was a stolen , I guess bribes to nations leaders originaly is classified as theft from the people) and was a launch pad for many years for spec ops into Caribean and central northern south americas.
It is the most valuable piece of property in Cuba but Cuba will take rent and shut up. NO Quantanamo is but pRt of US torture sites and clandestine stopover for Ametican Senators looking to visit Cubas professionals on the lukury beach fronts so visited by up to lately european males.
You do not shut down CIA or their military assets and as long as we can sneak peK some poor slob of an arB Orange that is a reminder of just how inhumane We in US are and any black skinned or browns that get in our way this is your second , the first being dead. End of existence.