Guantanamo sparks Obama's first fight with Congress (News Feature)

Washington - The question of what to do with detainees held at the Guantanano Bay prison camp has thrust US President Barack Obama into the biggest political fight of his young presidency. Seeking to quell the rising tide against him in Congress, Obama went before the nation on Thursday with a major address to assure Americans that he will not release detainees who remain a threat to national security. Obama accused Congress of using fear as a political tactic in voting to block the transfer of any of the detainees to prisons on US soil. Obama did not single out opposition Republicans. His own centre-left Democrats joined the minority party in the towering 90-6 defeat of an 80-million-dollar spending request to begin closing the controversial prison. 'I've heard words that are calculated to scare people rather than educate them - words that have more to do with politics than protecting our country,' Obama said. Obama's order to close Guantanamo by January 2010 drew widespread praise from Democrats, Republicans, civil-rights groups and the European Union, but he has since encountered stiff resistance from all sides on the question of what to do with the remaining 240 detainees. Only two countries, Britain and France, have combined to take two prisoners off his hands, and congressional opposition to bringing Gitmo inmates to the United States places him in a further dilemma. Lawmakers, fearing a backlash from voters, do not want to see any of the detainees end up in their home states or districts. They argued in shooting down Obama's budget request that transferring the prisoners to US soil unnecessarily places the American public at risk. Obama countered that keeping Guantanamo open hurts the US image in the world and undermines the war on terrorism. 'The problem of what to do with Guantanamo detainees was not caused by my decision to close the facility,' Obama said. 'The problem exists because of the decision to open Guantanamo in the first place.' Former vice president Dick Cheney, who has hit the airwaves in recent weeks to defend the policies during the Bush years, shot back in speech at the conservative American Enterprise Institute in Washington that began minutes after Obama concluded. Cheney credited congressional Democrats for joining Republicans to criticize Obama over Guantanamo, and argued there were no good alternatives to keeping the prison open. He accused Obama of making a snap decision to close Guantanamo without considering the consequences. 'The administration has found that it's easy to receive applause in Europe for closing Guantanamo,' Cheney said. 'But it's tricky to come up with an alternative that will serve the interests of justice and America's national security.' Democrats insist that Obama first provide a plan before they dole out the money, but the president offered up few new details in his speech on Thursday. He did, however, say that some of the detainees will be brought to prisons inside the United States. Obama said that the maximum-security facilities in the United States are adequate for holding dangerous detainees, and already house hardened criminals and previously convicted terrorists. He cited the cases of Ramzi Yousef, who was convicted in the first attack on the World Trade Center, and Zacarius Moussaoui, who was convicted of conspiracy for his role in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Both are serving life sentences in federal prisons. 'If we try those terrorists in our courts and hold them in our prisons, then we can do the same with detainees from Guantanamo,' Obama said.

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SP4: Move them to US PrisonsMay 22nd, 2009 - 14:32:56

...have the Red Cross ASK the detainees where they prefer to be.

The pig now dresses like the farmer.

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TruebritMay 24th, 2009 - 10:46:26

Substantially accurate, yet Farmer George is about as popular as his original Royal namesake in the USA, whereas Pork seems to be flavour of the month!

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SP4: Barbeque Trubrit...May 25th, 2009 - 16:29:29

...an american classic, came from our predecessors too. Please, take it back, and leave the sauce.

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tonny from belgiumMay 28th, 2009 - 07:35:26

Quote ...transferring the prisoners to US soil unnecessarily places the American public at risk...unquote
That is the argument used against transferring the prisoners to the penal facilities.Hilarious considering that the very same people claiming to be scared of transferring these prisoners ,like SP4 ,are constantly bragging how their guns provide them with security,how patriotic and courageous they would be if confronted with those criminals .It appears all that bravado is nothing but wind .Can one of those courageous patriots perhaps explain to us how the presence of hose detainees in your jails places the american public at risk ?
That will be fun to hear ...but please refrain from the usual paranoia,find some reasonable arguments,if you can !

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TruebritMay 29th, 2009 - 00:56:06

This can be the problem with some of your posts, SP.

Did you mean 'Barbecue, Truebrit'

or,

are you suggesting that I should be spitted and roasted?

In either case, you have quite enough 'sauce' of your own.

'Cheeky fellow!'

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SP4: You keep misisng the PointJun 1st, 2009 - 23:19:05

...Tonny: It's the detainees who are at risk here, not necessarily the citizenry. It is immoral to put an enemy combatant in a prison with common criminals. They will be at risk from what is an ENEMY population, with no protections. Many of the prisoners, while convicts, are still Americans, who are pretty violent and guess who gets shanked or raped first....do the math Tonny. Even you can add two and two. Also, for those inclined, it is a great place to recruit. Their recruitees are likely to be released, and then are at large in the USA, promised money and other perks for their cooperation. Do the math on that too, and for god sakes tell us why this is so far out. Imagine Al Qaeda teaming up with the Mexican gangs, outsourcing all kinds of activity....lovely, eh?

The only reason this is being pimped by the Obama admin is because he made this irresponsible promise, to foreigners with no stake in the argument, and now, he is obligated to pursue it, no matter who gets hurt. This is why Gates is mouthing 'new prison' and laughing behind Obama's back. God, the irony is so thick you could not cut it with a chain saw. It was supposed ot be Bush who was abusing them....wait until they hit gen pop at McNeil Island, or Leavenworth. Plus, I cannot wait to see the first federal rep who gets these on his turf....and his constituants reaction.

We have a perfectly good place for them: Gitmo. So run back to all your silly, meaningless libnazi gun constructs and try to think about this. You say you are against torture...I guess I'd have to debate that.

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SP4: by the wayJun 22nd, 2009 - 19:25:01

...did you hear?..the Uighurs(?) are balking at the Palau deployment...

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You know??Jun 28th, 2009 - 14:40:41

Anytime a black man and a white man would fight, the white one would get his azz kicked....HARD!!

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