Obama: Gitmo Likely Won't Close in First 100 Days...

Dungheap said:
Please note at the outset that Obama never pledged to close Gitmo within 100 days of taking office. Never. But reporting that Obama has remained consistent on Gitmo apparently isn't "newsworthy" and makes a shitty headline.
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He's the president and anything he says becomes "newsworthy."

But it's only news to those who believed Obama was some champion of civil liberties and is the anti-Bush.
 
"I believe you're right that he won't authorize torture, but will he continue to send suspects to foreign countries .. and don't the American people have a right to know what has been done in our name? "

Yes. But I don't know that he's going to continue that.
 
blackascoal said:
I'm not saying he's done anything wrong now. I'm saying he's doing just as I expected him to do .. and whenever he gets around to closing Gitmo my response is going to be the same .. big deal.

Closing Gitmo is easy. No courage required. The entire planet wants Gitmo closed.

Closing it is just symbolism.

Check this out ...

Obama Signals His Reluctance to Look Into Bush Policies

WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama signaled in an interview broadcast Sunday that he was unlikely to authorize a broad inquiry into Bush administration programs like domestic eavesdropping or the treatment of terrorism suspects.

excerpt ..

"The House Judiciary Committee chairman, Representative John Conyers Jr., Democrat of Michigan, has already introduced a measure to create a commission to investigate Mr. Bush’s detention, interrogation and rendition policies. Mr. Conyers’s bill would establish a bipartisan nine-member commission with subpoena power and a mandate “to investigate the broad range of policies” undertaken with claims that Mr. Bush’s wartime powers as commander in chief trumped laws and treaties.

The measure by Mr. Conyers is not the only sign that Congress may force the issue. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the second-ranking Democrat on the intelligence committee, said such a commission might not be necessary because the panel itself would press the administration to declassify as much information about C.I.A. prisons as possible.

“With regard to the C.I.A. interrogation program,” Mr. Wyden said in an interview, “if you want to make a break with the flawed policies of the past, as the president-elect has said he wishes to do, you have got to come clean about what happened over the past eight years, and that is why I’m going to push very hard to declassify these documents.”

Mr. Obama’s legal team could also be forced to react to litigation pending before federal courts. For example, the Bush administration has invoked the state-secrets privilege to avoid disclosing information about its surveillance program being sought in a civil lawsuit. The Obama legal team will have to decide how to handle that case.

In a related area, Mr. Conyers has indicated that he intends to keep pressing a House Judiciary Committee investigation into the Bush administration’s firings of nine United States attorneys and other accusations of political favoritism in hiring at the Justice Department.

The Bush administration has blocked subpoenas from Congress for documents and testimony by White House officials in that case, citing executive privilege. Last week, Mr. Conyers reissued the subpoenas to Mr. Bush’s chief of staff, Joshua B. Bolten, and his former White House counsel, Harriet E. Miers, in the name of the new Congress, ensuring that a lawsuit over the dispute will stay alive into the Obama presidency.

Mr. Obama is facing even more intense pressure from liberal, human-rights and civil-liberties groups to allow some kind of investigation into the Bush administration’s terrorism policies."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/12/us/politics/12inquire.html?_r=1

When Obama supporters were saying that he would investigate torture and other illegal policies of the Bush Administration I said that he wouldn't even then .. in spite of his claim to have his Attorney General and his deputies to "immediately review the information that's already there" with regards to investigating the Bush Administration.

And, I can almost gurantee that Conyers and anyone else who wants to investigate Bush will be shot down by Obama.

I believe you're right that he won't authorize torture, but will he continue to send suspects to foreign countries .. and don't the American people have a right to know what has been done in our name?
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Just for some perspective, here is how the same report was received by some right-wingers (please disregard the latent homoeroticism):

Obama refuses to rule out investigating crimes by Bush administration officials.

This is precisely what I was blogging about the other day. Obama’s most dangerous game — a leftist intelligence and war agenda — will see the intelligence community collapse and American citizens die. By his unwillingness to use definitive language against prosecution of Bush administration officials, Barack Obama puts in jeopardy the future successes of this country against terrorism.

We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm. Those rough men might hesitate knowing their commander-in-chief just might not stand behind them if their actions become known. Their hesitation will lead to American deaths.
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http://www.redstate.com/erick/2009/01/11/screw-obama-pardon-everybody/
 
"We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm. Those rough men might hesitate knowing their commander-in-chief just might not stand behind them if their actions become known. Their hesitation will lead to American deaths. "

LMAO Ohhhh, rough men stand ready in the night.
 
Further update:

President-elect Barack Obama is preparing to issue an executive order his first week in office — and perhaps his first day — to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, according to two presidential transition team advisers.

It's unlikely the detention facility at the Navy base in Cuba will be closed anytime soon. In an interview last weekend, Obama said it would be "a challenge" to close it even within the first 100 days of his administration.

But the order, which one adviser said could be issued as early as Jan. 20, would start the process of deciding what to do with the estimated 250 al-Qaida and Taliban suspects and potential witnesses who are being held there. Most have not been charged with a crime.

The Guantanamo directive would be one of a series of executive orders Obama is planning to issue shortly after he takes office next Tuesday, according to the two advisers. Also expected is an executive order about certain interrogation methods, but details were not immediately available Monday.

The advisers spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the orders that have not yet been finalized.

Obama transition team spokeswoman Brooke Anderson declined comment Monday.

The two advisers said the executive order will direct the new administration to look at each of the cases of the Guantanamo detainees to see whether they can be released or if they should still be held — and if so, where.
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http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2009/01/obama_preparing_order_to_close_gitmo.php
 
I just don't see how you can make the case that that's not change. It matters to the people who would be tortured. It matters to me.

He's not doing everything I want, but I want to pull out of Iraq AND Afghanistan and slash the military budget. Who was going to do that? Kuchinich, and he wasn't going to get elected, ever.
 
Darla said:
I was giving my opinion. How did I make it personal? Did I start out the post with "Your mother"? Have you been spending time with the delicately sensitive spurt?
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I didn't want to disappoint. From you post you made it clear I was supposed to run in here flapping my arms and screaming like a flamer. I should have added a bunch of crap on how you project assumed "evil intent" onto me.

Clearly I did a good job.
 
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President-elect Barack Obama plans to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay as early as his first week in office to show a break from the Bush administration's approach to the war on terror, according to two officials close to the transition.

One of the officials said it would be in keeping with Obama's campaign promise to shut down the prison through executive order, a move which was also pushed by last year's Republican presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/12/obama.gitmo/index.html
 
Yurt said:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President-elect Barack Obama plans to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay as early as his first week in office to show a break from the Bush administration's approach to the war on terror, according to two officials close to the transition.

One of the officials said it would be in keeping with Obama's campaign promise to shut down the prison through executive order, a move which was also pushed by last year's Republican presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/12/obama.gitmo/index.html
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That's just plain wrong and poor reporting. He plans to issue an order to close the base, not to close base. The error has been corrected , albeit very poorly, if you click the link. Now it's just poor writing:

President-elect Barack Obama plans to order the closing of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay as early as his first week in office to show a break from the Bush administration's approach to the war on terror, according to two officials close to the transition.
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Dungheap said:
Just for some perspective, here is how the same report was received by some right-wingers (please disregard the latent homoeroticism):




http://www.redstate.com/erick/2009/01/11/screw-obama-pardon-everybody/
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Gotta make sure those "rough men" don't think their CIC is a pussy. :)

In my opinion, this demonstrates the failure of Obama's aganda. He can make nice to the right all he wants, they will never accept him and will look for any opportunity to destroy him.

Even when he kisses their ass, it ain't good enough .. and he's been kissing their asses with a passion.
 
Darla said:
I just don't see how you can make the case that that's not change. It matters to the people who would be tortured. It matters to me.

He's not doing everything I want, but I want to pull out of Iraq AND Afghanistan and slash the military budget. Who was going to do that? Kuchinich, and he wasn't going to get elected, ever.
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I hate to break this to you but Obama is not going to slash the military budget .. in fact, he's going to increase it.

One area where Obama and his advisors have indicated no plans for cutbacks is in military spending, where the incoming administration is actually planning to increase the ranks of US ground forces by 100,000 troops and to purchase more arms and equipment.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/nov2008/obam-n26.shtml

He's going to increase the size of the military even though a Pentagon board has asked that the military budget be slashed.

Pentagon board says cuts essential, tells Obama to slash large weapons programs

WASHINGTON - A senior Pentagon advisory group, in a series of bluntly worded briefings, is warning President-elect Barack Obama that the Defense Department’s current budget is “not sustainable,” and he must scale back or eliminate some of the military’s most prized weapons programs.
http://pacificfreeze.ips-dc.org/2008/11/pentagon-board-tells-obama-to-slash-large-weapons-programs/

I keep warning .. Obama thinks American kids (not his of course) should be in the military.

AND, he plans to increase aid to Israel by 25%.
 
blackascoal said:
AND, he plans to increase aid to Israel by 25%.
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What people don't seem to realise is that despite the general deflationary trend, which currently grips the world's economy, it still costs a hell of a lot of money to blow up a Palestinian school.
 
blackascoal said:
I hate to break this to you but Obama is not going to slash the military budget .. in fact, he's going to increase it.

One area where Obama and his advisors have indicated no plans for cutbacks is in military spending, where the incoming administration is actually planning to increase the ranks of US ground forces by 100,000 troops and to purchase more arms and equipment.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/nov2008/obam-n26.shtml

He's going to increase the size of the military even though a Pentagon board has asked that the military budget be slashed.

Pentagon board says cuts essential, tells Obama to slash large weapons programs

WASHINGTON - A senior Pentagon advisory group, in a series of bluntly worded briefings, is warning President-elect Barack Obama that the Defense Department’s current budget is “not sustainable,” and he must scale back or eliminate some of the military’s most prized weapons programs.
http://pacificfreeze.ips-dc.org/2008/11/pentagon-board-tells-obama-to-slash-large-weapons-programs/

I keep warning .. Obama thinks American kids (not his of course) should be in the military.

AND, he plans to increase aid to Israel by 25%.
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I didn't mean that Obama was going to do those things - I meant that the only candidate who would have was Kuchinich and he is not and never will be, electable in this country, and there isn't anything I can do to change this.

As far as increasing aid to Israel, I did not know he has plans to do so, and I hope he doesn't.
 
charver said:
What people don't seem to realise is that despite the general deflationary trend, which currently grips the world's economy, it still costs a hell of a lot of money to blow up a Palestinian school.
Click to expand...


But its a good investment because you then can build on that land and use their newly discovered natural resources like oil and gas.
 
Im going to reserve my judgement on Obama until what he is going to do actually materializes.

The proof is in the pudding.
 
Darla said:
I didn't mean that Obama was going to do those things - I meant that the only candidate who would have was Kuchinich and he is not and never will be, electable in this country, and there isn't anything I can do to change this.

As far as increasing aid to Israel, I did not know he has plans to do so, and I hope he doesn't.
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Ok, I gotcha on Kucinich .. but as you can see Obama has no plans to slash the military budget (He wants our kids in the military)

AND ..

Obama to increase aid to Israel

US presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama is committed to increasing foreign aid to Israel, should he be elected in the November ballot.

Obama would honor existing agreements concerning aid to Israel and would work toward "increasing aid to Israel to USD 30 billion over 10 years," a spokeswoman for Obama told Israeli business daily Globes.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=71409&sectionid=3510203
 
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