Obama presents plan to close Guantanamo prison

AFP, WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama presented a long-shot plan Tuesday to shutter the Guantanamo Bay detention center, hoping to fulfill an elusive campaign promise before he leaves office next year.
Describing the jail as a stain on America’s reputation and a catalyst for jihadists, Obama said “I don’t want to pass this problem on to the next president.”
“For many years, it’s been clear that the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay does not advance our national security. It undermines it,” Obama said from the White House’s Roosevelt Room.
He outlined a $290-475 million plan to move the 91 remaining detainees abroad and to one of 13 possible—unnamed—facilities in the United States.
Obama has tried for almost eight years to close the jail, but has been thwarted by Congress, the Pentagon, some in his own party and foreign allies who refuse to host the terror suspects abroad. As a candidate and as president, Obama has argued that the indefinite detention without trial of Guantanamo inmates harms America’s image and its national security.
“It undermines our standing in the world,” he said. “This is about closing a chapter in our history.”
Lawmakers in the Republican-controlled Congress have blocked the most obvious path to closing the facility by banning the transfer of detainees to the United States, and there is little prospect of Republicans changing tack in the runup to the November presidential election.
House Speaker Paul Ryan immediately rejected the proposal, saying bringing “Guantanamo terrorists” to the United States was neither smart nor safe.
“It is against the law, and it will stay against the law, to transfer terrorist detainees to American soil,” he added.
Obama appealed for the closure plan to be given “a fair hearing, even in an election year.”
But Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican presidential candidate, doubled down on opposing it, promising to increase the Guantanamo population if elected.

Obama presents plan to close Guantanamo prison

AFP, WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama presented a long-shot plan Tuesday to shutter the Guantanamo Bay detention center, hoping to fulfill an elusive campaign promise before he leaves office next year. Describing the jail as a stain on Americas reputation and a catalyst for jihadists, Obama said I dont want to pass this problem on to the next president. For many years, its been clear that the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay does not advance our national security. It undermines it, Obama said from the White Houses Roosevelt Room. He outlined a $290-475 million plan to move the 91 remaining detainees abroad and to one of 13 possibleunnamedfacilities in the United States. Obama has tried for almost eight years to close the jail, but has been thwarted by Congress, the Pentagon, some in his own party and foreign allies who refuse to host the terror suspects abroad. As a candidate and as president, Obama has argued that the indefinite detention without trial of Guantanamo inmates harms Americas image and its national security. It undermines our standing in the world, he said. This is about closing a chapter in our history. Lawmakers in the Republican-controlled Congress have blocked the most obvious path to closing the facility by banning the transfer of detainees to the United States, and there is little prospect of Republicans changing tack in the runup to the November presidential election. House Speaker Paul Ryan immediately rejected the proposal, saying bringing Guantanamo terrorists to the United States was neither smart nor safe. It is against the law, and it will stay against the law, to transfer terrorist detainees to American soil, he added. Obama appealed for the closure plan to be given a fair hearing, even in an election year. But Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican presidential candidate, doubled down on opposing it, promising to increase the Guantanamo population if elected.