Ryan told reporters that lawmakers have the votes to block Obama’s plan in Congress and enough votes to override any veto. Disclosure of the plan, mandated by Congress, is bound to meet stiff resistance from Republicans.
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Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, opened the Guantanamo prison in early 2002 to house foreign terrorism suspects captured after the September 11, 2001, attacks on NY and Washington. The plan offered broad cost estimates.
Rep. Mia Love also noted that Congress has specifically passed legislation to stop the detainees from being moved to American soil and also clearly asked Obama to produce a “clear and robust plan to defeat ISIS”, referring to the terrorist group in the Middle East.
“Congress acted over and over and over again, in a bipartisan way, to reject the president’s desire to transfer unsafe terrorists to communities inside the U.S. The president signed all those prohibitions, and his attorney general confirmed that it is illegal”. The Islamic jihadist terrorist war against the United States and the civilized world continues, and the prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay are among the most treacherous.
The rest continue to be reviewed periodically to see if they continue to pose a significant threat to the United States.
Obama is “absolutely committed” to closing the facility in Guantanamo Bay. That number has dwindled over the years as the Pentagon has transferred lower-risk detainees to other countries – meaning that the prisoners who remain tend to be considered higher security risks. It speaks of 13 potential sites, including civilian prisons and military bases, but makes no recommendation.
“The administration seeks an active dialogue with Congress on this issue and looks forward to working with Congress to identify the most appropriate location as soon as possible”, Cook said.
While relocating detainees to federal prisons in the USA may afford them a different set of legal rights, it remains unclear what limits Congress may place on those rights.
“All South Carolinians ought to weigh in…” We will not jeopardize our national security over a campaign promise. Where would the detainees go? They called for the administration to submit one by February 23.
Obama said he was “very clear-eyed” about the challenges of closing Guantanamo.
It houses 91 inmates, 35 of whom are eligible for a transfer, and about 2,000 US personnel at an annual operating cost of $180 million. “And frequently we have little to offer them in return, except the continued goodwill of the United States”.
Last month, 10 Yemenis held at Guantanamo were released and sent to Oman. But Shakir says it won’t really change the circumstances under which they’re held. It was the largest release of prisoners at the US military detention center since 2009. “Suddenly, many of those who said it needed to close backed off because they were anxious about the politics”, he said.
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More than half of the remaining detainees are Yemeni nationals. “Contrary to the perception of some, we do not just drop these guys off and say have a nice life”, Wolosky said in the interview.
