Barack Obama is making a final attempt to close the infamous Guantanamo military prison. This is about closing a chapter in US history, he rightly says, and lays out a powerful case. And for the president, it’s about the fulfillment of a pledge which he has been trying desperately, but in vain, for eight years. A failure will certainly go down as a blemish on his legacy and Obama is also driven by a moral obligation to help inmates who have been denied justice. Several leading human rights organizations and activists have excoriated Washington for the brazen human rights violations practised at Guantanamo.
“Fifteen years after [the September 11 attacks] we’re still having to defend a facility where not a single verdict has been reached in those attacks. Not a single one. When I first ran for president it was widely recognized that this facility needed to close ... There was bipartisan support to close it,” Obama said. Worse, according to him, the prison is a stain on America’s reputation and a catalyst for jihadists, instead of trying to advance national security.
Obama has come out with a comprehensive plan to close the facility. There are currently 91 detainees at Guantánamo Bay, including 35 cleared for transfer that the State Department expects to repatriate by the summer. He outlined a $290-$475m plan to move the 91 remaining detainees abroad and to one of 13 possible facilities in the United States.
Though Obama deserves praise for his latest effort, is he likely to succeed this time? Unfortunately, the level of pessimism is very high. He has tried for almost eight years to close the jail, but has been thwarted by Congress, his own Department of Defence and some in his own party. The Republican-controlled Congress have blocked the most obvious path to closing the facility, banning the transfer of detainees to the United States.
The latest plan too has run into heavy political opposition. Republican Senator and presidential candidate Marco Rubio swiftly hit back with a pledge to increase the Guantanamo population if elected. Many senators have called the plan a political exercise and have vowed to oppose it. In the febrile atmosphere of Islamophobia and hatred prevailing in the US, whipped up by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and other candidates, garnering the required support for Obama’s plan will be a herculean task.
Obama must try hard to fulfill his promise. But the likelihood is that Guantánamo will remain a detention facility even after he leaves office. If that happens, it will remain an unerasable stain on America’s reputation.
Barack Obama is making a final attempt to close the infamous Guantanamo military prison. This is about closing a chapter in US history, he rightly says, and lays out a powerful case. And for the president, it’s about the fulfillment of a pledge which he has been trying desperately, but in vain, for eight years. A failure will certainly go down as a blemish on his legacy and Obama is also driven by a moral obligation to help inmates who have been denied justice. Several leading human rights organizations and activists have excoriated Washington for the brazen human rights violations practised at Guantanamo.
“Fifteen years after [the September 11 attacks] we’re still having to defend a facility where not a single verdict has been reached in those attacks. Not a single one. When I first ran for president it was widely recognized that this facility needed to close ... There was bipartisan support to close it,” Obama said. Worse, according to him, the prison is a stain on America’s reputation and a catalyst for jihadists, instead of trying to advance national security.
Obama has come out with a comprehensive plan to close the facility. There are currently 91 detainees at Guantánamo Bay, including 35 cleared for transfer that the State Department expects to repatriate by the summer. He outlined a $290-$475m plan to move the 91 remaining detainees abroad and to one of 13 possible facilities in the United States.
Though Obama deserves praise for his latest effort, is he likely to succeed this time? Unfortunately, the level of pessimism is very high. He has tried for almost eight years to close the jail, but has been thwarted by Congress, his own Department of Defence and some in his own party. The Republican-controlled Congress have blocked the most obvious path to closing the facility, banning the transfer of detainees to the United States.
The latest plan too has run into heavy political opposition. Republican Senator and presidential candidate Marco Rubio swiftly hit back with a pledge to increase the Guantanamo population if elected. Many senators have called the plan a political exercise and have vowed to oppose it. In the febrile atmosphere of Islamophobia and hatred prevailing in the US, whipped up by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and other candidates, garnering the required support for Obama’s plan will be a herculean task.
Obama must try hard to fulfill his promise. But the likelihood is that Guantánamo will remain a detention facility even after he leaves office. If that happens, it will remain an unerasable stain on America’s reputation.
