“I will fight any plan that closes Guantanamo without congressional approval, ?” said Coats, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
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WASHINGTON: – US President Barack Obama says he plans to close the controversial Guantanamo Bay detention facility. “They are going to Guantanamo, and we are going to find out everything they know”.
The administration has looked at the federal Supermax prison facility in Florence as one possible location for detainees because it already houses several terrorists convicted in USA courts.
British former detainees of Guantanamo Bay have greeted an announcement that Barack Obama will finally close the detention centre with scepticism.
Smith’s measures failed, but he persisted because he views the prison as “an worldwide eyesore that undercuts our national security, damages our credibility with our global partners and is a colossal waste of taxpayer dollars”.
“If certain detainees no longer pose a continuing significant threat, they may be eligible for transfer to another country”, said Obama.
23, 2016 took his case for closing the Guantanamo military prison to the American people, saying it was time to shutter a facility that betrayed U.S. interests and values.
Currently, the administration must inform Congress of plans for any transfers, but those notices are classified.
In the Senate, Armed Services Chairman John McCain dismissed the plan as incomplete and said GOP senators would join their House counterparts on any legal challenge.
Monday, the president says the detention center undermines America’s national security and needs to be closed. “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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Under Obama’s plan, around 35 of the 91 current Gitmo detainees will be transferred to other countries in the coming months, leaving up to 60 detainees who are either facing trial by military commission or are determined to be too risky to release. “The fact is President Obama has signed multiple bills prohibiting the transfer of unsafe terrorists to US soil, and I oppose the White House’s plan to now lift this ban and unnecessarily compromise our security”.
