Guantanamo May Finally Be Closed By Obama

Charles Dharapak-AP In this photo reviewed by the US military, a soldier closes the gate at the now abandoned Camp X-Ray, which was used as the first detention facility for al-Qaida and Taliban militants who were captured after the September 11 attacks at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba, November 21, 2013.

Those words aren’t spoken very often in just that way from the podium in the White House briefing room, but they were Wednesday by press secretary Josh Earnest. With diplomatic ties recently restored between the United States and Cuba, where the prison is located, and Obama nearing the end of his presidency, the White House seems to be circling back to 2008 campaign promises – and closing the Guantanamo Bay prison has proven more hard than most.

“The administration is in fact in the final stages of drafting a plan to safely and responsibly (close) the prison at Guantanamo Bay and to present that to Congress”, Mr Earnest said.

But the newspaper said Carter had not made a commitment to moving the prisoners by a particular date.

A total of 116 detainees are now held at Guantánamo, of which 64 are considered too unsafe to be released.

Lawmakers now need 30 days’ notice before any transfer of inmates, who are now not allowed to be brought to any prison inside the US.

Obama has threatened to veto the National Defense Authorization Act year after year over language that effectively prevents him from closing the prison.