Will Obama Close Guantanomo ?

[Facetious]

No, not after he gets briefed on all of the details involved. And there are details ! I maintain that it's best that he doesn't, as the danger(s) are too great. I realize that this is most unpopular, it's just my personal belief that this nation cannot afford a potential time bomb, both literal and figurative, in importing the alleged (more than likely probable) terrorists to our shores, only to lawyer 'em all up compliments of the U.S. taxpayer . . no no no ! . . . ugly ugly ugly !.

We'll be watching carefully.

No news story
Discuss ~

 

[meesterperfect]

I think they should like close it and let everyone free, as a sign of good faith or something.

kidding, but maybe some trials should be on the agenda.

 

[ChefChiTown]

No, because he'll have bigger problems to worry about that directly effect the American people. Taxes, jobs, economy, gas, etc.

 

[TwatDetective]

Well he'd just move it to the U.S.A.

But I don't really care if he does that or not. Just as long as he keeps a camp for terrorists somewhere and they get speedy and fair trials.The U.S.A government holding people at their whim is disgusting.

 

[Friday on my mind]

Short answer is YES he will close it.It may take some time to get the people who they need to repatriot back to other countries.But within 1st term I would expect all to be eithier repatriated, given trials in some sort of fairly swift manner eithier there in cuba or on US soil.But the situation of just holding people without trial no matter where that may be is intolerable and against everything america is suppose to stand for.I have no doubt that the policy under Obama will be very different on such things then it was under Bush.He would like to get on a path of restoring our image which has been severly damaged by guantanamo and the torture tactics employed which also makes some possible trials problematic as you can't use evidence gathered that way in a trial.Just cause you got somebody to say something while waterboarding them isn't exactly reliable as they will many times say anything you want to get you to stop.Bush and his brain /sidekick Cheney used total fear tactics to try to justify the policy with trying to sell they are preventing further attacks wiith these detentions and torture.But really what they are doing is admitting that they at least are too chicken shit to play by the rules of the constitution and prove what they claim in courts and that their tactics have prevented anything.If america isn't about giving anyone accused of crimes by the govt all the rights to a trial,face their accusers,lawyer to represent them etc against the immense resources of the govt then we as some sort of beacon of how a fair and just society is suppose to operate is failing to live up to that.There is no way that this will be allowed IMO under the new administration,it better not be or Obama will really lose a lot of his present good will he enjoys here and abroad.Our prestige in the world is more important and vital to our security than anything they are learning or preventing in guantanamo IMO.Be brave america and stick to your ideals of fair play and justice!:thumbsup:

 

[meesterperfect]

Well he'd just move it to the U.S.A.

But I don't really care if he does that or not. Just as long as he keeps a camp for terrorists somewhere and they get speedy and fair trials.The U.S.A government holding people at their whim is disgusting.

maybe so, they should get trials, but i think its more disgusting when the people those prisoners fight for slowly cut off their prisoners heads with sabers while laughing their asses off , military or civillian, usually christian, jewish , or buddist, in the name of their god.

we feed em, give em lawyers, let them pray and they decapitate us alive, but we're the bad guys.

fucked up priorities and concept of reality people have these days.

 

[darkwarrior3007]

maybe so, they should get trials, but i think its more disgusting when the people those prisoners fight for slowly cut off their prisoners heads with sabers while laughing their asses off , military or civillian, usually christian, jewish , or buddist, in the name of their god.

we feed em, give em lawyers, let them pray and they decapitate us alive, but we're the bad guys.

fucked up priorities and concept of reality people have these days.

Yeah but that's exactly why the United States has to hold up it's ideals. We have to prove that we are the better ones and that we will hold up our laws no matter how flawed they are. When America loses that identity with the world we really become exactly the thing we hate. The Terrorists.

 

[calpoon]

we feed em, give em lawyers, let them pray and they decapitate us alive, but we're the bad guys.

how can you stand behind such a statement of indiscriminately judging people based simply on their nationality and the perceived demonized ideals that accompany it? That is exactly the rational that al queda and others like them believe in when they think that all Americans are infidels that should be destroyed and ignore the fact that not only are many americans strict muslims, but the vast majority of them have nothing to do with the middle-east... Just like most of the people in the middle-east don't have anything to do with extremist and terror groups.

it's a well known, and conveniently ignored fact that many of the people at gitmo are there because they were picked up in random sweeps of militant areas (kind of like arresting random people in south central LA because it is a gang territory and assuming that those people are gang members based on no other evidence than their neighborhood. Which some people seem to think we should do as well.) Others were turned in by their neighbors to collect on the rewards that the US was offering, and there has been very little to screen through these people to determine which are real suspects and which are unlucky victims of someone else's opportunity. Also you have people that did commit militant actions against Us troops, but once again, it hasn't been determined if they are part of a militant group and posses any relevant information, or if they were just acting on their own.

 

[georges]

No don't close it, just keep the most dangerous prisoners there. These prisoners are a risk for the USA's safety, any terrorist who had been involved in 9/11 must live and die in Guantanamo and this is my opinion.There is no fair play and justice for terrorists, only death for them. For what concerns other prisoners, put them in federal jails until they are questioned and cleared by the FBI of any terrorist activity.

 

[meesterperfect]

closing it is not the answer, finding out who's who and either convicting or aquitting them asap is whats right.
One problem where do you send them if they are aquitted, many have no country to go to.

Obama did promise to close it.
I don't know what his plan is on what to do with the prisoners.
Guess we'll find out.

 

[Skyraider22]

that is the last thing he should be thinking about.

 

[usmc071984]

i see it like this and you may not agree with me but i believe the saying ignorance is bliss is one of the most profound and truest sayings ever written down.

look at america as if it were a single person. now if you take any person in the world, and go thru their house, thru every drawer and in every nook and cranny, you are going to find things that embarrass them and things they dont want anybody else to see. its just a fact in life. everyone has a skeleton in their closet.

now maintaining the same concept it it is undenyable that there are things this america person doesnt want anybody else to know about and things it keeps tucked away in the only safe places it knows for its own protection of its dignity and safety.

now back to america as it really is. i know there are things the government does that i might find morally wrong and not agree with, but they are necessaries. they allow me to be sitting here, in my barracks room, ignoring the last episode of the 3rd season of lost in the backround, drinkin my cola, and typing this message to all of you. god bless the men and women who do these things and i pray that they find peace and are still able to get a descent nights sleep regardless of the things we, the people of america, require of them in order to keep us safe and secure.

yes, i may have a biased opinion here, being a member of americas armed forces, but i am all to grateful that i have not personally been put in the situation to make one of those decisions, or be the tool america uses to cover up its embarassments. that being said, i believe it is in our, the people of americas, best interests that places like guantanamo bay remain in use. god forgive us if we are wrong, but in matters of self preservation, i believe no man can be judged.

 

[calpoon]

great thinking there usmc, it worked really well for Germans in the 40's.

 

[usmc071984]

the germans were out to exterminate a race of people. we are trying to protect our own land from random bombs going off inside it. they are in no way comparable.

 

[Galactic]

i see it like this and you may not agree with me but i believe the saying ignorance is bliss is one of the most profound and truest sayings ever written down.

look at america as if it were a single person. now if you take any person in the world, and go thru their house, thru every drawer and in every nook and cranny, you are going to find things that embarrass them and things they dont want anybody else to see. its just a fact in life. everyone has a skeleton in their closet.

now maintaining the same concept it it is undenyable that there are things this america person doesnt want anybody else to know about and things it keeps tucked away in the only safe places it knows for its own protection of its dignity and safety.

now back to america as it really is. i know there are things the government does that i might find morally wrong and not agree with, but they are necessaries. they allow me to be sitting here, in my barracks room, ignoring the last episode of the 3rd season of lost in the backround, drinkin my cola, and typing this message to all of you. god bless the men and women who do these things and i pray that they find peace and are still able to get a descent nights sleep regardless of the things we, the people of america, require of them in order to keep us safe and secure.

yes, i may have a biased opinion here, being a member of americas armed forces, but i am all to grateful that i have not personally been put in the situation to make one of those decisions, or be the tool america uses to cover up its embarassments. that being said, i believe it is in our, the people of americas, best interests that places like guantanamo bay remain in use. god forgive us if we are wrong, but in matters of self preservation, i believe no man can be judged.

One of the best posts I have read. Thanks for serving......stay safe.:hatsoff:

 

[hedonis]

Given the current US economic situation, and the fact that terrorist groups are firing rockets into Israel, and that Israel is attacking the areas where those folks fire rockets from, and that Russia is puffing its military chest, all the things he promised about energy...

I think he may have other things may important on the plate.

H

 

[ChefChiTown]

the germans were out to exterminate a race of people. we are trying to protect our own land from random bombs going off inside it. they are in no way comparable.

Really? I figured that somebody who was supposedly in the Marines would know that the two situations are easily comparable.

Germans (Nazis) - Jews were forced into and held captive under strict observation and rule in concentration camps, which, according to all historical records, were no more than makeshift prisons.

Guantanomo Bay - Supposed criminals are forced into and held captive under strict observation and rule in prison.

I don't have 20/20 vision, but I can clearly see the comparison.

:2 cents:

 

[calpoon]

the germans were out to exterminate a race of people. we are trying to protect our own land from random bombs going off inside it. they are in no way comparable.

My point is that taking the standpoint not to question the government and ignore your conscience and say, "I don't want to know what's happening" and just hope that it all turns out OK is a recipe for abuse of power.

There is no just reason for the government to go behind the backs of the public and operate in secret and without accountability, and I don't buy for one minute that it makes us a safer or a more free society.

 

[NavyBlue]

Closing the Bay, while not a top priority for Obama (nor should it be), is still something that must be done during Obama's first term. Give the prisoners speedy trials and give death sentence or life imprisonment to ones who deserve it, but release the rest (and bar them from ever entering US just in case). US cannot be taken seriously by the world if it fails to obey the same law as everybody else, or if it goes against its own constitution. Bush has made US a mockery in the world, it's time for Obama to restore that image and make US great again.

 

[D-rock]

i see it like this and you may not agree with me but i believe the saying ignorance is bliss is one of the most profound and truest sayings ever written down.

look at america as if it were a single person. now if you take any person in the world, and go thru their house, thru every drawer and in every nook and cranny, you are going to find things that embarrass them and things they dont want anybody else to see. its just a fact in life. everyone has a skeleton in their closet.

now maintaining the same concept it it is undenyable that there are things this america person doesnt want anybody else to know about and things it keeps tucked away in the only safe places it knows for its own protection of its dignity and safety.

now back to america as it really is. i know there are things the government does that i might find morally wrong and not agree with, but they are necessaries. they allow me to be sitting here, in my barracks room, ignoring the last episode of the 3rd season of lost in the backround, drinkin my cola, and typing this message to all of you. god bless the men and women who do these things and i pray that they find peace and are still able to get a descent nights sleep regardless of the things we, the people of america, require of them in order to keep us safe and secure.

yes, i may have a biased opinion here, being a member of americas armed forces, but i am all to grateful that i have not personally been put in the situation to make one of those decisions, or be the tool america uses to cover up its embarassments. that being said, i believe it is in our, the people of americas, best interests that places like guantanamo bay remain in use. god forgive us if we are wrong, but in matters of self preservation, i believe no man can be judged.

I have a question for you. If we as a country reduce ourselves to being closer to the level of the people we think are evil and the people that we hate what they do, if we throw away all the liberties and human rights we hold dear, if we cast aside the very values that made our country what it is and the foundation upon which it was built, if we become reprehensible and use an ends to a means philosophy to justify making things more convenient for us...THEN JUST WHAT THE HELL ARE WE FIGHTING FOR ANYMORE? At that point there really isn't much left worth to preserve. We will have become as bad or even worse than our enemies. At least some of them don't hide their bad sides. Is that something you would want to fight for? For me it isn't.




I have learned in life that you can't fight evil with evil and have something good come out of it. Sooner or later it will come back and worse than before. It does nothing but keep perpetuating evil in the world. In that situation only evil wins. Even worse it corrupts and destroys the very thing people are, the very things that made them the person they were in the first place. Either as a person or as a society is becoming a monster, becoming that which you hate, worth it to make an impossible victory perceived to be easier?