Big News:
Advisers to President-elect Barack Obama say one of his first duties in office will be to order the closing of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay. That executive order is expected during Obama's first week on the job _ and possibly on his first day, according to two transition team advisers. Both spoke Monday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Obama's order will direct his administration to figure out what to do with the estimated 250 al-Qaida and Taliban suspects and potential witnesses who are being held at Guantanamo.
This is an interesting but not unexpected development. Pres. Elect Obama has frequently said that he intends to close the base, but in recent days has said that it may not be done as quickly as he wants:
The infamous U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay will absolutely close on his watch, but President-elect Barack Obama said Sunday it will take longer than expected.
"I don't want to be ambiguous about this," Obama told "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" on ABC. "We are going to close Guantanamo and we are going to make sure that the procedures we set up are ones that abide by our Constitution."
The prison at the U.S. Marine base in Cuba holds about 250 suspected terrorists and "enemy combatants" captured since the 9/11 attacks. Some have been subjected to harsh interrogation techniques Obama and other critics believe constitute torture.
"From my view, waterboarding is torture," Obama reiterated Sunday. "Under my administration we will not torture."
Obama acknowledged it's proving tricky to strike a balance between making sure the rule of law applies to Gitmo prisoners "in a way that doesn't result in releasing people who are intent on blowing us up."
For just about everyone's view, the main issue is finding somewhere to house these folks, some of whom are legitimately dangerous. But this is still a good first step in getting that place closed.