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President Obama acknowledges No Gitmo Closure by January

by Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke | November 19, 2009 at 04:34 am

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Despite good intentions and a majority Democratic Congress, President Obama has now confirmed that the January deadly for Guantanamo closure will not be met. President Obama signed an executive order during his first full day in office.

President Obama lays the blame on Washington, which he says moves a lot slower than he had envisaged. Congress, earlier this year, failed to fund closure of Guantanamo.

Since the signing of the executive order, efforts have been made to relocate Gitmo detainees that had not been charged to third countries. This has been a difficult task since these countries are reluctant to accept the risks associated with accepting these prisoners. That risk is both real and also a political liability.

Recent reports indicate that Democrats in Congress are now lining up behind the President to fund Gitmo closure.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — President Barack Obama is now confirming what many have long suspected: He will miss his January deadline to close the Guantanamo prison -- partly because he cannot persuade other nations to take the detainees.

Prisoners like Walid Abu Hijazi. The 29-year-old is nearing his eighth year at Guantanamo even though the U.S. approved his release in February 2008. No one else has been willing to allow him, or dozens of others, into their territory.

This dilemma is one of the chief obstacles to closing the jail, according to lawyers and human rights groups who monitor U.S. detention policy. Most say Washington bears the main blame because it also refuses to accept prisoners on American soil.

"It's very difficult to persuade third countries to accept the political or security risks involved, especially when the United States has been unwilling to accept that risk itself," said Matthew Waxman, a professor at Columbia Law School.