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NTDTV

USA: Snag in Obama’s Plan to Close Down Guantanamo Facility

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Redaktion

21. September 2009

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Lesedauer: 3 Min.

There’s a major snag in President Barack Obama’s plan to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba by January of next year.

The Senate is expected to vote as early as next week on a bill that denies any money to close Guantanamo or build a new facility on U.S. soil.

Congress is also weighing new rules to govern the military trials for terrorism suspects currently held at Guantanamo Bay, and the Obama White House is seeking a two-month delay for all such trials, while it also considers trying them in U.S. courts.

But at Guantanamo, military commanders and guards are operating under the assumption that the Guantanamo detention facility will close in mid-January and meet President Obama’s deadline…set forth by executive order in his first days in office.

Navy Rear Admiral Tom Copeman is the Commander of JTF Guantanamo.

[Navy Rear Admiral Tom Copeman, Commander of JTF Guantanamo]:
“The fact of the matter is the last order we received from the President was to be ready to close and cease detention operations no later than 22 January. So that’s what we’re doing and that’s what our plan is and somebody’s gotta tell us something different in order for us to change our course at this point.”

Once the detention facilty does close, more than 2,100 military personel will be transferred elsewhere. But Guantanamo —45 square miles of land and water– will still be operating as America’s oldest overseas military
base.

[Navy Rear Admiral Tom Copeman, Commander of JTF Guantanamo]:
“I think it’s kind of my expectation that as time goes by and the truth rises to the surface, that this place will have a different legacy in history than it does in the current media.”

In fact, although Guantanamo is known worldwide for its role in detaining more than 200 detainees– deemed as a danger to U.S. interests– the Naval Base is also a place of exceptional beauty. Besides the undeveloped landscape featuring cactus plants and unusual wildlife seen all over Guantanamo, some of the most pristine beaches, isolated coastal vistas and glorious sunsets in North America can be experienced here on a daily basis. But for most of the world, the word “Guantanamo” conjures up a vastly different image.

Over the last 7 years Guantanamo has become synonymous with America’s controversial detainee program. But come January of next year, this port on the southeast coast of Cuba will revert to what it used to be known as– a strategic gateway for the Pentagon and America’s most southern military
installation.