Jan. 22, 2010
PROMISES, PROMISES: Gitmo Still Open As Obama’s Deadline Passes; No New Deadline In Sight
WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Barack Obama neared his self-imposed deadline to close the Guantanamo Bay prison, the Justice Department offices of the terrorist detention task force were bustling – not with lawyers but construction workers tearing apart the walls, ripping out any trace of the secretive work, though Obama’s goal is still far off.
The staffers were gone, having completed recommendations on detention policy. This Wednesday, the Guantanamo task force made its final recommendations for all of the 196 remaining detainees awaiting transfer, trial or further detention.
Attorney General Eric Holder has reviewed the bulk of those recommendations and decided that the most feared detainee – the self-declared mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks Khalid Sheikh Mohammed – and four henchmen should face trial in New York.
For all that work, the Obama administration is still struggling to find the political muscle, diplomatic dexterity and cash from Congress to implement those tough, often unpopular decisions about the remaining detainees.