The president wants to close Gitmo before he goes. Good luck.
by digby
The White House is drafting options that would allow President Barack Obama to close the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by overriding a congressional ban on bringing detainees to the U.S., senior administration officials said….
The administration hopes to tamp down controversy by reducing the inmate population by at least half through quickly transferring Guantanamo detainees cleared for release….
Nonetheless, administration officials say the detention center can’t be closed without sending at least some of the remaining inmates to the U.S. mainland.
Unilateral action “would ignite a political firestorm, even if it’s the best resolution for the Guantanamo problem,” said American University law professor Stephen Vladeck. Republicans are sure to oppose it, while Democrats could be split, he said.
Uh yeah. Democrats will definitely be split — about 60-30 if history is any guide, maybe even worse considering the ISISisgoingtosneakovertheborderandkillyouallwithebola scare. And the Republicans are already losing — their —shit:
Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) on Friday vowed to block all legislation in the Senate with a prolonged filibuster if President Obama tries to transfer detainees from Guantanamo Bay to the United States….
Roberts made a similar threat back in 2009, when Obama originally signaled he wanted to relocate detainees to the United States. At the time, the disciplinary barracks at Fort Leavenworth, as well as a maximum-security prison in Obama’s home state of Illinois were being considered to house the prisoners….
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who is traveling through the state this week on Roberts’s campaign bus, said he would join the filibuster. Roberts predicted he would have broad support from his colleagues.
“I will have help on this. I can see John McCain there and I can see Lindsey Graham there and I can see Kelly Ayotte there and I can see a whole bunch of other people there,” Roberts said.
Yeah, I think they’ll be there.
I admire Obama for doing it. Perhaps it’s something he really doesn’t want to leave office without having made a serious effort. But I’ll be surprised in the current environment if he can get it done. The presidential race is starting and we’ve got a full blown GWOT panic underway. This timing doesn’t strike me as auspicious.
On the other hand, maybe he knows something we don’t know — that members of congress have found a thread of sanity on this issue for obscure reasons. It would be smart if they did; that insane prison camp really does place us in the line of fire. But I’ll believe it when I see it.
In fact, it’ so bizarre that he would bring this up right at this moment makes me wonder if they aren’t throwing it out there for the express purpose of allowing Democrats to distance themselves from him. That’s certainly the only political reason they would do this. But hey, maybe they’re doing it out of conviction which is admirable. That hideous hellhole is a festering sore on our “exceptionalism” and we should all be ashamed that it goes on.
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