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Five myths about Guantánamo Bay
Source: The Guardian
Five myths about Guantanamo Bay
Karen Greenberg
Guardian Weekly, Tuesday 7 May 2013 11.50 BST
Renewing his push to close the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, President Obama said what many of his critics have been saying for years – that it is inefficient, inspires new terrorists, alienates the US's allies and, above all, "is contrary to who we are".
Coming in response to the detainee hunger strikers, whose numbers increase every day, Obama's comments suggest that the inmates are close to accomplishing what others opposed to the prison have not: they're making it necessary that their cases get resolved. Let's revisit some myths about the prison:
1. The Guantánamo Bay prison is open for business
Guantánamo Bay is in limbo. It's neither closed nor fully open. The prison hasn't accepted any new detainees since 2008. Instead, in recent months, non-US citizens accused of international terrorism and apprehended abroad have been brought into federal custody.
2. It's impossible to close Guantánamo
Resettling the detainees in their home countries or in other nations is a matter of political will on the part of the president, realism on the part of Congress and trust in the nation's sizable counterterrorism measures. But it is doable.
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Karen Greenberg
Guardian Weekly, Tuesday 7 May 2013 11.50 BST
Renewing his push to close the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, President Obama said what many of his critics have been saying for years – that it is inefficient, inspires new terrorists, alienates the US's allies and, above all, "is contrary to who we are".
Coming in response to the detainee hunger strikers, whose numbers increase every day, Obama's comments suggest that the inmates are close to accomplishing what others opposed to the prison have not: they're making it necessary that their cases get resolved. Let's revisit some myths about the prison:
1. The Guantánamo Bay prison is open for business
Guantánamo Bay is in limbo. It's neither closed nor fully open. The prison hasn't accepted any new detainees since 2008. Instead, in recent months, non-US citizens accused of international terrorism and apprehended abroad have been brought into federal custody.
2. It's impossible to close Guantánamo
Resettling the detainees in their home countries or in other nations is a matter of political will on the part of the president, realism on the part of Congress and trust in the nation's sizable counterterrorism measures. But it is doable.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/07/five-myths-about-guantanamo-bay
