Obama administration is in end stages of finalizing plan to close prison at Guantanamo Bay

[dixiegrrrrl]

Per WH briefing a few minutes ago

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest says Obama administration is in end stages of finalizing plan to close prison at Guantanamo Bay

[randys1]

1. Countdown to "finally, finally Obama does something right" 3, 2, 1

[malaise]

2. Great news

A man of his word despite all the ReTHUG blockages

[brer cat]

3. Huge K&R! nt

[zipplewrath]

4. Caution

We've heard this talk before. The White House desperately wants this, but they haven't succeeded yet. It will require the cooperation of the House.

Barack Obama’s 2008 rival John McCain may be offering the president his last chance at fulfilling the pledge he made immediately after taking office to close the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay.

Six hundred and fifty-five detainees have been transfered to other countries, including six Yemeni men sent to Oman last month, but 116 remain. Several of those are considered too high a security risk for transfer to another country, and a major obstacle barring the facility’s closing has been 2010 legislation blocking the transfer of prisoners from Guantánamo to the United States.

McCain’s proposed measure, which would be part of the forthcoming Defense Authorization Act, would strengthen restrictions on transferring detainees abroad, but in exchange would also give the White House the opportunity to submit a plan for the facility’s closure. If Congress approved that plan, the White House could begin ordering the transfer of detainees from Guantánamo to the United States for trial or imprisonment.

That’s a big if. McCain’s fellow Republicans may be willing to defend his honor from Donald Trump, but that doesn’t mean they share the former POW’s views on U.S. detention policy. A competing House version of the measure includes only the new restrictions on transfers to other countries, which would ban the transfer of detainees to conflict zones like Afghanistan and require the secretary of defense to certify that the countries where they’re headed could maintain control over them. And the leading GOP candidates are generally in favor of keeping Gitmo open.
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