White House Walking Back Decision To Close Gitmo, Calling It A “Hasty Decision”
Another day another flip flop for the Obama administration.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said closing the detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, was a “hasty decision,” in his daily press briefing with reporters.
President Obama’s decision to close the controversial detention center in the early days of his presidency was met with adulation on the political left and earned headlines in newspapers across the world. It was seen as a clear break from Bush-era national security policy.
But recently Obama has irked many liberals with his decision to continue Bush-era military commissions to try Guantanamo Bay prisoners and his decision not to release photographs allegedly depicting U.S. soldiers abusing detainees in Afghanistan and Iraq. To an extent, this break with the political left is indicative of the difference between campaigning and governing.
Yeah. Obama’s finding out that it’s a lot harder to actually be the President than it is to campaign for the job.
This comes on the heels of the Senate voting to block funds for closing down Guantanamo Bay. Which means that after years of hearing Obama and his fellow Democrats harp on how terrible Guantanamo Bay is and how Bush was all but committing war crimes in his handling of terror detainees the liberals are basically going to be handling the situation the same way Bush did. Gitmo is going to stay open for the foreseeable future, and the detainees will be tried via military commissions.
Which is fine by me. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s never been an optimal situation. I think Bush handled it about as well as it could be handled, and Obama and the Democrats are admitting that now with their actions (if not with their rhetoric).
