Obama to limit CIA, order Guantanamo closed

[BABY1]

TweetHow do you feel about this?



WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama is ready to issue orders on Thursday to close Guantanamo prison and overhaul the treatment of terrorism suspects, in a swift move to restore a U.S. image hurt by charges of torture.
A draft executive order obtained by Reuters on Wednesday sets a one-year deadline to close the controversial U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where foreign terrorism suspects have been detained for years without trial.
Obama, who was sworn in as president on Tuesday, is expected to issue the order on Guantanamo on Thursday. He will also ban abusive interrogations and order a review of detention policies for captured militants, said congressional aides and a White House official.
White House counsel Greg Craig and other officials briefed congressional representatives and staff on the plans on Wednesday, the aides said.
Obama pledged during his election campaign to close Guantanamo, which became a blot on the human rights record of the United States and a symbol of detainee abuse and detention without charge under the Bush administration.
"It's exactly the kind of bold action that is necessary," said Elisa Massimino, executive director of the Human Rights First advocacy group. "Both the speed and the content will send a clear message to our own people and the rest of the world that what he said ... he meant."
The draft order would require an immediate review of how to deal with the remaining Guantanamo prisoners. The military commissions set up to try detainees would also be halted pending a study.
A military judge on Wednesday suspended the cases of five suspected plotters of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States and of a young Canadian man at Guantanamo, a day after Obama sought a 120-day suspension of pending cases.
ABIDING BY THE MANUAL
Another presidential order would ban CIA use of "enhanced" interrogation methods by making all U.S. agencies abide by the Army Field Manual, which bans techniques such as waterboarding, a form of simulated drowning the CIA says was used on three terrorism suspects.
Outgoing CIA chief Michael Hayden has defended the harsh techniques and called the Army manual too restrictive but says the agency would abide by limitations. The CIA declined comment on the reports.
Obama is also expected to order a review of all U.S. detention policies.
The Guantanamo draft specifies the camp "shall be closed as soon as practicable, and no later than one year from the date of this order." Prisoners still in detention would be returned to their home country, released or transferred to a third country or other U.S. facility.
Attorneys representing Guantanamo detainees said the time frame was too long.
"It only took days to put these men in Guantanamo, it shouldn't take a year to get them out," said Vincent Warren of the Center for Constitutional Rights, which has organized representation for the prisoners.
But an influential Republican congressman said dangerous suspects could be relocated to the United States and possibly be freed there in court challenges.
"Closing Guantanamo Bay poses significant national security concerns to the American people," said Lamar Smith of Texas, the top Republican on the House of Representatives judiciary committee.

Former President George W. Bush has said many countries that criticized the United States were unwilling to take any detainees. But the draft order says diplomatic efforts by the Obama administration could lead to new locations for a "substantial number" of current detainees.
The United States still holds about 250 men at the U.S. naval base in Cuba and wants to try about 80 of them on terrorism charges.
Two al Qaeda suspects have been convicted by the military commissions at Guantanamo and one pleaded guilty. Two of the men have already returned to their home countries. Washington has cleared 50 detainees for release but cannot return them to home countries because of the risk they would be tortured or persecuted there. Around 500 others have been freed or transferred to other governments since 2002.

[daved150]

Tweetnot very good.....if i HAD to do it, i'd lowjack their a$$ first!! and maybe a remote detenation explosive (that part would be for fun, ofcourse)

[Fit2bLarge]

TweetI'm fine with closing gitmo, but dont bring those animals here

[FUZO]

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I'm fine with closing gitmo, but dont bring those animals here

where do you think that blojob of a president is going to do. bring them here.he's a fukin idiot.letting teriorist free

[Fit2bLarge]

TweetI agree, he shouldn't bring them here. It's still in debate what they're doing with them, I don't think anyone has said they're letting them lose on our streets...jeez. lol, you're such an exaggerator lol

[PL456]

Tweetwhat an idiot obama is...they are closing it down, but don't have a clue where to put the animals housed there. this sounds like a bog-ol kiss up to the kook leftists, like daily kos and the like. hey fit2blarge, how bout we send them to a detention center in your neighborhood??

God help us all...obama is going to get us all killed.

[Waterboy]

TweetIt is just the first step in the weakening of our national defense. Why should we worry what the rest of the world thinks about us if we are trying to our country safe from terrorist?
The terrorist don't have any rules for detaining or torturing our people. An eye for any eye.

[Fit2bLarge]

Tweetjust for the record, look it up, Bush let prisoners from Gitmo go awhile back, and guess what, they're back in the battlefield. One is accused of a bombing in Yemen. Thanks Bush!

As a matter of fact, he let go over 60 prisoners out of Gitmo. Now...I have a question, if these people are sooo bad, what the hell are they still doing in Gitmo? Would they have been tried by now? What was Bush waiting for? Prisoners have been there for 6 years with no trials.

[firstenrgy]

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just for the record, look it up, Bush let prisoners from Gitmo go awhile back, and guess what, they're back in the battlefield. One is accused of a bombing in Yemen. Thanks Bush!

As a matter of fact, he let go over 60 prisoners out of Gitmo. Now...I have a question, if these people are sooo bad, what the hell are they still doing in Gitmo? Would they have been tried by now? What was Bush waiting for? Prisoners have been there for 6 years with no trials.

Wow, you have a lot of opinions for being so uninformed. You "are okay with closing gitmo, but don't bring them here" Hello? That's the whole purpose of keeping them on a military base off american soil. It gives us greater powers to detain and thouroughly check them out thanks to GWB but now the great dunce of all time obama hussein will take this trump card from us. Yeah, good call buddy. I hope he does close it and soon so when one of these nuts get relesed and they kill americans it will land squarely on obama husseins shoulders. Unless of course the kool aid is coursing through your veins, then you will see a utopia as usual.

[FUZO]

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Wow, you have a lot of opinions for being so uninformed. You "are okay with closing gitmo, but don't bring them here" Hello?

exactly firstenergy all liberals have some kid of liberal spew to say

[Ironclad]

TweetI'd have built a few more myself..

[6p6]

Tweetthis is going to be bad boys and girls...I'd hate to be in charge of these worthless humans...

[Fit2bLarge]

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Wow, you have a lot of opinions for being so uninformed. You "are okay with closing gitmo, but don't bring them here" Hello? That's the whole purpose of keeping them on a military base off american soil. It gives us greater powers to detain and thouroughly check them out thanks to GWB but now the great dunce of all time obama hussein will take this trump card from us. Yeah, good call buddy. I hope he does close it and soon so when one of these nuts get relesed and they kill americans it will land squarely on obama husseins shoulders. Unless of course the kool aid is coursing through your veins, then you will see a utopia as usual.

Show me where they have decided that they're releasing them here on the US, oh so informed one, show me!

And tell me oh so informed one, how is the decision behind Bush releasing 60+ prisoners from Gitmo that have gone back to battlefield?

what i find funny is that when Bush let the animals it, everything was honky dory, but when the possibility is mention, let me say it again, the possibility, no decisions have been made about where they're putting them, there's an uproar. Again, I do agree, they should not release them in the US, just like Bush should have not released them in the past.

I'm stirring up some grape kool-aid...refreshing

[BABY1]

TweetWhy even close it down? Just leave them where they are at!

[pigmeat]

Tweetif they are there or anywhere else they need to be tried and exucuted if found guilty....found innoncent, let them go..cant just hold them captive