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Obama details Guantanamo closure

By Sarah Smith

Updated on 21 May 2009

Guantanamo Bay has "weakened" US national security and become a "rallying cry" for America's enemies, President Barack Obama said today as he sought to convince Congress of the need to close the base.

President Barack Obama described Guantanamo Bay as a

The president outlined his plans to deal with 240 detainees currently in legal limbo at the controversial centre, insisting no one who posed a risk would be released.

His comments come a day after the US Senate blocked $80m in funding which the White House says is needed to close the detention camp and opposed the transfer of detainees to US soil.

Obama announced the proposed shutting of the centre in January in one of his first moves as president. Guantanamo Bay has been a continuing focus of criticism due to its system of detention without trial and harsh interrogation techniques.

But despite its tarnished reputation, there have been growing calls from Republicans to keep the camp open. They claim that alleged terrorists who cannot be convicted may have to be set free in the US.

Speaking in Washington, Obama described Guantanamo Bay as a "misguided experiment" which had set back America's "moral authority".

He continued: "Rather than keep us safer, the prison at Guantanamo has weakened American national security. It is a rallying cry for our enemies.

"It sets back the willingness of our allies to work with us in fighting an enemy that operates in scores of countries.

"By any measure, the costs of keeping it open far exceed the complications involved in closing it."

Turning to the politically sensitive issue of what to do with the 240 detainees currently housed at the Cuban base, Obama conceded that there were no easy answers. But he hit out at what he described as "fear-mongering" from some opponents to his plans.


He said: "We are not going to release anyone if it would endanger our national security, nor will we release detainees within the United States who endanger the American people."

If needed, detainees would be transferred to "supermax" prisons in the US where the most dangerous and violent criminals are kept - prisons, Obama noted, no-one has ever escaped from one of these high security jails.

Obama outlined different categories that terror suspects would be divided into. Some will be prosecuted through federal courts, but those deemed to have violated the laws of war would continue to go through military commissions. A third category of detainees would be released having been found by the courts to pose no risk. A further 50 would be transferred out of the country.

The last category affects detainees that cannot be prosecuted but still pose a threat. Examples included those that had been trained at al Qaida camps and continued to express desire to kill Americans, Mr Obama said.

The president said their continued detention was necessary but that it needed to fit with the rule of law. Any prolonged detention without trial must be "carefully evaluated and justified" he added.

Cheney's sharp response

In response, former Vice President Dick Cheney sharply criticised President Obama's handling of terrorism policy and defended harsh interrogation methods that Obama has labelled torture.

In a speech at the American Enterprise Institute just after Obama finished his speech, Cheney said Obama's decision to ban tough tactics "is unwise in the extreme".

"It is recklessness cloaked in righteousness and would make the American people less safe," said Cheney, long viewed as a leading hawk in the Bush administration.

He took particular aim at Obama's decision to close Guantanamo Bay detention centre, which opened in 2002 as part of George W. Bush's war on terrorism.

"The administration has found that it's easy to receive applause in Europe for closing Guantanamo. But it's tricky to come up with an alternative that will serve the interests of justice and America's national security," said Cheney.

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