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In a concession to his inability to close down the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay as he planned to do when he came into office, President Obama has ordered the Pentagon to resume military tribunals for some detainees there.
Since Obama became president, no NEW cases were referred to military tribunals, but some existing cases were proceeding. This order lifts the freeze and allows new cases to be brought.
However, the policy makes clear that the administration continues to believe that some cases should be tried in civilian U.S. courts. This new policy today does not mean that ALL detainees at Gitmo will be tried in military commissions.
In other words, the administration continues to believe that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other high-value detainees should be tried here, not at Gitmo, and it will continue pushing Congress to change a recently enacted law which bars bringing any further detainees to the U.S. for trial. However, if Congress is unwilling to budge, then this new policy opens up an avenue for putting Khalid Sheikh Mohammed on trial before a military commission, if it comes to that.
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Wait ... how can this be? B. Hussein O'Bama shut down Gitmo during his first year as Dictator.
Right? I mean, that's what he PROMISED, afer all.
Snowdog650
Wait ... how can this be? B. Hussein O'Bama shut down Gitmo during his first year as Dictator.
Right? I mean, that's what he PROMISED, afer all.
Well if the scary right wingers hadn't be such obstructionist it would have been.
You NIMBY people are such cowards what happened to bring it on?
Snowdouche: If he had been a dictator, then Gitmo would have been closed. Your point is illogical.
Isn't a comment like this (Snowdog) just precious?
I mean, really.
I would say that post is worthy of a 'low information voter' badge, wouldn't you!
Snowdog, That's what you've got? Nice thinly veiled slur. So what are you trying to say? Is it that Obama is a Muslim? Or is it that he is not a natural born citizen? Get real no one but Tea Party trash and the GOP of the Deep South those kinds of statements seriously.
Congratulations Conservatives you won this battle.
The Constitution lost, but hey, at least you get a 'W' in your colmn.
Or like YourTruth says below - understanding the facts changes things.
Nobody wins as long as the people that are in Gitmo are around. It seems they really, really don't like us too much. Fact, they flat out want us dead.
A little late to the party today, but SnowDog, if Obama is a dictator, what is Scott Walker? He makes Obama look like a puppy dog.
Hey, all-
Did you see the CNN report about the Taliban robbers who murdered dozens of innocent people in a bank in Afghanistan?
How long do you think progressive/liberals like you...or, merely those who are educated, enjoy sports, listen to music, or engage in otherwise blasphemic behavior, would last under a Taliban regime?
How long did they survive the last time the Taliban controlled Afghanistan?
You're going after the wrong conservatives, friends...the REAL conservatives are the Islamic extremists who want to take the entire world back to the 13th Century, not just a decade or two.
President Obama is correct about Afghanistan...if nothing else.
Hey Buzz -
Forgot to mention earlier, while I was out in San Diego over the weekend, I happened to pass Spanky's business endeavor down by the beach!
Old 'airstream' trailer with a dilapidated sign above that reads 'Spanky's Bait & Sushi Shack'!
Sweet gig he's got goin... lol
Sec. Gates also just announced that we will be in Afghanistan until 2014. I really hoped we could get out earlier.
Bryan E .... I'm thinking Governor Walker is just taking a playbook from your boy Obama. You forget the health care bill so quickly.
Sounds nice Feisty.
And hey, how about the weather. It was a balmy 81 degress Saturday.
our "boy" Obama? Snow-racist.
WHAT??? Another example that GW Bush WAS RIGHT!!!
note to obama: it's easy to run your mouth off as a liberal or a jr senator, but when you have to step up to the plate and be a POTUS; it's a lot different. that liberal utopia doesn't work when there are "bad guys" and they want rid the world of us.
So it's the republican/teaparty/conservative's fault that obama is ordering the pentagon to resume gitmo tribunals? That makes sense. It's dubya's fault. It's always somebody else's fault.
The funding for transfer from Gitmo to the United States was prohibited by the Republicans. Obama is doing the only logical thing and option being left to him.
How did the Constitution lose, John? Where does it state in the Constitution that we should put our enemies on trial in a civilian court in the US?
If a US citizen is murdered in Mexicowhile on vacation, is the murderer supposed to be tried in a US court?
They don't have enough money to ship them here, but they have enough to hold them there indefinitely. If you believe that cover story, I got some swamp land to sell you. Obama is doing the same thing Mr. Bush did, and he's probably going to get us into a third war. Stay tuned.
Because, Danno, there's no Constitutional authority for the "Unitary Executive" to unilaterally declare a person (citizen of not) and "Enemy Combatant", and therefore subject to none of the rights afforded to any person, whether by the US Constitution or by the Geneva Conventions or by any other authority, so that they can be tried by secret evidence that they are not allowed to refute, if the "Unitary Executive" doesn't just decide to hold said person for the rest of his/her natural life without access to any reasonable facsimile of a court system.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn would recognize a system like that...not so anyone who lived in America prior to the GW Bush Administration.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Commissions_Act_of_2006
Maybe this is why Obama is resuming military tribunals?
Obama EPIC FAIL !
"....the policy makes clear that the administration continues to believe that some cases should be tried in civilian U.S. courts. This new policy today does not mean that ALL detainees at Gitmo will be tried in military commissions.'
MSNBC, Is the allcaps for "NEW " and "ALL" just to emphasize your role as defender of Obama? Just like the leftwing zealots who post here in all caps ALL THE TIME ?
Good thing Obama didn’t close Gitmo. How else could he have continued to have trials at that location.
A couple of Obama's previous quotes regarding Guantanamo:
"I intend to close Guantanamo, and I will follow through on that. I have said repeatedly that America doesn't torture. And I'm gonna make sure that we don't torture. Those are part and parcel of an effort to regain America's moral stature in the world." - Barack Obama - On CBS 60 Minutes, November 16, 2008.
"To overcome extremism, we must also be vigilant in upholding the values our troops defend – because there is no force in the world more powerful than the example of America. That is why I have ordered the closing of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, and will seek swift and certain justice for captured terrorists – because living our values doesn’t make us weaker, it makes us safer and it makes us stronger." - Barack Obama - Address to Joint Session of Congress, Feb. 24, 2009
Wow. Powerful words. So what changed? Because of Obama's 180, does he now believe it's okay for us to "torture"? Are we, the US, still extreme, and do we not hold up the "values" Obama expects us (him) to uphold? Is America no longer the nation whose values the world should look towards? And are we no longer "safer and stronger" because Gitmo is back in action?
Or was this just more empty rhetoric from Obama?
B-188, it looks like you read the article so are you just taking statements out of context. From what I read, Congress blocked moving the GITMO prisoners to the US for trial. If that would have happened, the government would have been able to close the prison there. Nice spin though there Bob!
"EPIC" and "FAIL", not to mention the combination of the two are words sought to be banished this year. News Flash.
http://www.lssu.edu/banished/current.php
http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/12/31/viral-epic-and-fail-on-list-of-2010s-banished-words-and-phrases/
They just can't help themselves... it's all they got!
Language in a recent appropriations bill that makes it impossible to bring these people to US soil for trail.
Taxes, Gitmo. See Obama is not so bad.
Now if he would just do something about gas - it's really going to screw us all if hit hits $5.00.
And can you tell us who signed that provision into law.
I don't know why Republicans are so scared of trials in the US.
We've tried hundreds already without incident.
We either believe in our system of justice or we don't.
I see it differently. This President knows the meaning of flexibility--and it's refreshing.
Eric, opposition to trials in the US have nothing to do with not believing in our justice system. But it's our justice system. The purpose of the American civilian justice system is to try civilians who live in the United States and commit crimes here, not citizens of other countries who committed crimes in military contexts thousands of miles away.
It has nothing whatever to do with xenophobic impulses or right-wing extremism (let alone a lack of belief in the American justice system, as you so cavalierly assert). All it really amounts to is a belief that acts of international terrorism do not fall within the jurisdiction of one nation's legal system.
Trying KSM in civilian court would be like having tried Hermann Goring or Martin Bormann in civilian court after World War II. Would you seriously argue that the Nuremburg tribunals represented a lack of faith in our justice system? Obviously not. Rather, they were the only appropriate course of action given the identities of the people being tried.
@Spanky,
Yep, Obama is not all bad: he continued the tax credits and now is going to hold military trials at Gitmo. He is turning out to be a good at reaching across the aisle.
Now if we can see what his energy bill will be. Perhaps he'll open up the Bakken oil field and start drilling, transporting in the near future and refining? It will not happen overnight, but a good reason for other oil producing countries to be concerned. The Bakken field is estimnated by the Energy Information Administration to be valued at over 500 billion barrels. What surprises me is the Dept of Energy published this information in 2008 and no one has done anything with it. Now this find is: 8-times as much oil as Saudi Arabia; 18-times as much oil as Iraq; 21-times as much oil as Kuwait; 22-times as much oil as Iran; 500-times as much oil as Yemen; and it is in the W. US.
My understanding is this is also light crude, generating the highest value in resell. I also understand that this one find can fuel the US for the next 2040 plus years. Now why are we not looking to drill in this rural region? Are the Soros backed tree huggers supressing this from happening?
Wouldn't this throw a hitch into this "green energy" program of the President?
WHAT THE HELL? I thought Obama closed gitmo?
What!? Me surprised!? It's just another promise Obama made. Eric, Republicans are not scared of trying terrorists they're scared of the liberal ACLU and Democrat-appointed judges who will free these terrorists on our soil then finance their lives here in the U.S. because of some legal loophole like, "The soldiers who captured KSM didn't Mirandize him at the time of his capture."
Eric.. you don't know why Obama and his Administration are so scared of trials in the US...That's what you don't know... and more.
Drill baby DRILL We have to have energy independence.
What makes you think "Drill baby Drill" would accomplish that? We don't have enough sources of oil to meet our needs. Not even close.
John B, "We don't have enough sources of oil to meet our needs. Not even close."
What are your sources for that? I'm serious, not trying to be condescending.
There is a lot of drilling off our shores by other countries... Must be worth something... Even if it's enough for a temporary solution, to keep speculation from crippling us in times like these.
Well, at present 40% of our oil comes from domestic production, 60% is imported. We've already tapped most of the easily available oil, which is why we're drilling 2 miles down in the Gulf of Mexico and seeking to open up ANWR--cheaper and easier alternatives are already gone or being tapped. Nothing says our consumption is going to go down, only up.
http://www.wisegeek.com/where-does-the-us-oil-supply-come-from.htm
Other sources indicate ANWR--the main focus of the "Drill baby Drill" crowd would be able to supply about 1% of world production, about 4% of the oil we consume in the US.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4542853/ns/us_news-environment/
http://are.berkeley.edu/courses/EEP39C/ANWR.pdf
joanna, you asked, "So what changed?"
Do you remember Obama campaigned on getting the US out of Afghanistan and Iraq ASAP? Do you remember one of his first duties as the newly elected president, sitting in on a security counsel briefing? Do you remember the 180 he pulled after coming out of that? After he was educated to what was really going on in the world?
I find it interesting that the more experienced and educated Obama becomes being in office, the more he moves to the center.
Speculation.........dressed up as certainty. Obama isn't going to rock the Military Industrial Complex's boat before his second term. He didn't get us into Afghanistan or Iraq, or GITMO. He can take all the time he needs to get us out safely and still, rightly, blame the expenses on Bush/Cheney. They dropped the ball, and then they over-reacted to their own failures. It is all their mess, we should send them, and their supporters, the bills.
BaHaHaHa....It is an entirely different view when you get ALL the facts and information isn't it? Gitmo should NEVER be shut down and ALL terrorists should be rounded up and sent there...PERIOD.
Leave Mr Walker out of this!
Are you actually saying Walker is a terrorist? Really, that's your point here Drive By?
Wow. Okay my man please do tell us how in your mind Walker is like a terrorist that apparently should be housed in Gitmo.
Come on funny guy, show us what you got.
Or maybe you could expalin how it is, some two years in, Gitmo is open and, as per the article, Obama has conceded the point of its closing. Perhaps promises are easy, but like YourTruth says, things are different when you understand the facts. Right DBO, facts can be hard, huh?
Come on give it a shot.
I expect the Left of the country thinks Walker is a terrorist. And they'll get right back to you on the explanation of that "fact" after it is explained to them by their "brain-trust" of Ed, and Rachel, and Chris.
So be patient. It takes them a bit of time to copy and paste in the "facts".
I know, but I'm just busting my boy Drive By's chops.
I was hoping that maybe, just for once there'd actually be so "there" there.
But alas, and as per usual, not so much.
Yes. He's a terroist, just like Obama is an 'Epic Fail'. Geez- you GOTTA agree with that, right, Spanks?
But really- If somene inflicts hurt on innocent others as a means to get their own way, what should I call 'em? (BTW- I still don't have to answer one quesiton at all from Ms Spanky, no matter how she sees it. )
Shall we all vote on Drive By's attempt at a response?
Was it Epic, or just plain old, FAIL?
But look on the bright side he did manage to call me a woman [Ms Spanky], which of course makes me wonder why he hates women? Are they a source of ridicule to you Drive By?
Always with the name calling. So Sad.
Spanky-
hall we all vote on Drive By's attempt at a response?
Geekers, looks like y' got yerself a '2-pounder' there. 'mam....
...guess the magical mystery apology tour didn't settle down the savages like Mr. Experience thought it would. Huh. Crazy, ain't it.
What's crazy is that there are morons still repeating the talking point about an "apology tour".
What's even funnier are the specially adept morons that try to move the goal post when it's brought up.
This will be a black eye on Obama's administration.
No one should get poked in the eye for acknowledging reality.
You do get a black eye for taking a wrong step from having your foot in your mouth.
Good. Keep it stepping. Let's get on with having some sort of legitimate trial for the detainees at Gitmo. Somewhere, somehow... It's tiime already.
Ah, atleast he is making a good decision to protect the country. Anyone that looks into this prison knows that they get treated better than in a lot of our prisons here. This also goes to show you how easy it is to make promises based on what you think is right, and then the real deal is once you get to be President and you are privy to the "real" info and the rest of the story.
He has actually picked up bombing with drones and is now doing this. This should tell you everything. He knows how this looks, but he is doing it clearly because it is the right thing to do. period.
The very first Executive Order he signs is to close Gitmo within one year.
Now he's saying go ahead with the military tribunals (even after Gitmo never comes clear to being closed down, even after over two years after the order)?
Can you say business as usual for Obama and Democrats? Make the promise, even give the order, and then find out that you were an IDIOT and didn't know what the hell what you were doing (while being applauded by the left of course for doing BOTH things, ordering the closing and then backing out of it).
But then again, Obama has a history of doing and saying things with absolutely no knowledge whatsoever and then having to pull his foot out of his mouth.
So very typical.
Now we get the defense of this garbage from the left, and of course the personal attacks on those that point out his hypocrisy.
on Barack Obama:
“It's like a Jackson Pollock presidency. He throws it up against the canvas. If you misinterpret what he wants you to think, he says that your impression's wrong."
Classic case of looking in from the outside, having an idealistic point of view, and then getting the sensitive info the President gets and then changing his mind. Every one of these decisions just validates Bush more.
Must you regurgitate the Rush Limballs talking point as if it were your own?
Nah, it's pretty much a classic case of looking in from the outside, having an idealistic point of view, and then getting the sensitive info the President gets and then changing his mind.
Seriously. It's not that difficult to connect the dots on this.
Woould this be the very same "GITMO" he promised to close??? The tribunals he claimed were going to stop??? Hmmmm. Where are the protestors now????
Politics huh? Say one thing and do the other. In this case, it's about time.
After campaigning on ending these tribunals and closing Gitmo, the Clown-in-Chief decides, two years later, that what President Bush did was actually correct. What a loser!
Congress tied his hands.
The 111th Congress?
Or...the 112th Congress?
A subtle...but, important distinction.
Then why didn't he say that? Today, he said these tribunals "...are an important tool to fight global terrorism". So was he lying during the campaign or is he lying now? Hence, my screen name.
didn't the dems have a super majority for the first 2 years of O-No's administration? just checking.
The minority in the Senate can shelve any bill indefinitely. Try to catch up with the rest of the discussion.
Paul-
Is that because of the Senate rules that the majority elected not to change?
Yes, after they were informed of the lengths to which the minority was willing to go to obstruct their ability to exercise majority rule, they caved.
Paul, The Dem controlled House voted against it. The Dem controlled Senate also voted against it. You are right that congress tied his hands but any premise that it was because of Republican opposition is incorrect. It was bipartisan opposition
Thanks for the heads-up, Paul-
I thought they caved because they knew that they'd likely be the minority in the Senate after 2012...and, of course, because they were hypocrites all along.
10 September 2010, President Barack Obama: "You know, Al-Queda operatives still cite Guantanamo as a justification for attacks against the United States - still, to this day. And you kow, there's no reason for us to give them that kind of talking point when, in fact, we can use the various mechanisms of our justic system to prosecute these folks and to make sure that they never attack us again.
7 March 2011, President Barack Obama: "uuuum, uhhhhhh, "OOOPS"
Al-Qaeda
Cheryl.....That was well played.
Cherly, I never could figure out how holding terrorists captive on a Caribbean island is a recruiting tool but holding them in Illinois is not. I think they would be more pissed to go to Illinois.
I have a new name for Obama: YO-YO MAN.
My, aren't you clever? Did you think that one up all by yourself, or have to ask for help?
Well if the shoe fits...One minute he's up the next he's down. I see you are a brainwashed party member, no thoughts of your own.
Feisty....He probably went in and used used the "learn-by-phonics and be a liberal" book that Democrats hand out to everyone in the Party.
You know, the one that says, "make personal attacks on anyone that you disagree with, but never, and that means NEVER, use the truth, because it will embarass you".
Another party member! How's that for a personal attack? Or better yet: A YO-YO Man follower?
Let's see Shawn, conservatives have a name for Republicans in Name Only: RINOS. What do Democratics call A Democrat in Name Only: DIMO?
Well, it seems President Obama is turning himself into a DIMO. So far he has reached out to extend the tax credits; moved to keep open his Gitmo facility that he campaigned to close; ended the discussion with his AG on the marriage situation for Gays; campaigned for but never addressed the immigration issue for Latinos; hasn't created innovative legislation to stimulate job growth in the country; may have passed a health care law that is unconstitutional and by not drafting the bill correctly, one item will negate the whole bill; has alienated the population by having an entertaining lifestyle during difficult economic times.
Now I will admit that every President has done what Obama has done, but his image has been tarnished by his audacity. The liberal news consistently questions the Republicans for much of everything, but why haven't they looked into some of the issues of the Obama administration? could it be that they and George Soros were behind the move to elect this young man with no real administration experience?
With the major nonachievements of this president, has he lost the Latin, Gay, left-liberal core of his voting population? Will "Hill & Bill" come out of the bushes to compete?
If he hadn't lost all his major constituencies he'd be more popular than Reagan or Clinton at this stage of their presidencies...oh yeah, HE IS! http://www.gallup.com/poll/124922/Presidential-Approval-Center.aspx
LOL !!! So much for "my first officaial act as President is to issue an executive order to close Gitmo."
He is the Commander in Chief isn't he? We are at war aren't we. Obama needs to develop some intestinal fortitude and give an order. If it's not obeyed court martial or fire the offender, appoint another one and do it again until somedbody follows orders.
Congress disallowed execution of his executive order by denying funding for the prisoners' transfer to our civilian system.
This has got to be the funniest thing I've read in days. Maybe 2nd to the San Francisco residents response to the 99-red balloons floating in the Bay. That was funny too.
Paul, congress didn't tie his hands when he signed the order.....he ran his mouth trying to make Bush look bad and fulfill a campaign promise. Once again he spoke "without knowing all the facts"...
The executive order doesn't get put into action without funding. Congress controls the purse.
Lighten up folks. Of course the tribunals need to keep going and of course the initial positions taken during a campaign are pointedly adjusted once the frame of reference has changed from candidate, to new president, to understanding the ugly truth about Gitmo and the nasty people incarcerated there.
His perception of who was being held there didn't change. He can't get justice served here in the USA because congress wouldn't fund it. He's settling for the next best in delivering "justice".
This president is such a disappointment.
Yes, he's only half-white. We know.
You really need to get out more, Paul.
Mosey on over to Firedoglake.com.
I'm afraid that the disappointment among the progressives there has nothing whatsoever to do with President Obama's skin color.
A first term centrist is always going to disappoint his liberal following. They'll get over that in his second term. They'll learn to love the way he played the game.
Or not.
That's ok Obama. You got this country so @!$%#ed up I think the ACLU thinks I'm better off dead than alive.
With your upside down alternate reality of what can not be legally proved by your citizens, absolutely anything on the plane of no reality becomes cause for you to use your super powers to achieve any ends using a fanatical and criminal claim of war time power over every citizen.
But you disgusting, disturbed little @!$%#, before you close in on my prime suspect, VISA, using your military rule concealed by no reality investigations, put one of these on my credit card and give Manning his @!$%#in close back so I can at least pretend my country stands for something.
http://www.ezwatch-security-cameras.com/?gclid=COGbzK23vacCFYjsKgodLxrBBQ
I know it is easier to put one in everyone's head, so you can put the word potential in front of each one of them, and abuse them worse than you could a convicted criminal since exploring their collective innocence could only be done with our global pile of @!$%#, but I would rather have my nextel explode than ever salute your shameful and cowardly ass.
Please, give some examples of him using his "military powers over citizens".
Wait, who are you talking about?
All of you are right. We should bring them to the US and let them live next door to you.
Unless they can walk through the walls of a SuperMax, like X-Men, yes...
Torture? You should check out the photos of the victims from the Mexican terrorists just south of us. They have surpassed the Muslim terrorists. This is not the first time he said something and did the opposite. How are all you pro Obamaites liking the gas prices? How about Obamacare? It's so great; the unions get to refuse to be a part of it as all those in Congress who passed the bill without reading it.
Paul, with all due respect, stop defending him on this. This is not anyone tying his hands because if that was the case he would say it. He has a history of clearly putting blame on others. It is obvious that he made this decision because, again, he ran for President based on his ideology and a set of assumptions. Then he got into office and has a totally different perspective. I am not a fan of his but I at least give the guy credit for be willing to change his position and do the right thing even though he'd have egg on his face.
He's been getting all of the secret national security briefings for 2 years now and look at how his policy and position is changing. That tells you all you need to know about the true threat and that it can not be handled with gloves on.
And someone else said this on here and it is so true ... where is the ACLU, code pink, and all of the people that we holding up signs of Bush as Hitler? How shallow and immature.
And please people, don;t try to counter someones argument that is made with facts and logic by just making some kind of stupid statement like "using rush's talking points". You are not countering or adding to the discussion at all - just noise. And don;t try to counter the argument by bring up other topics. Let's be mature here.
Doesn't change the fact that Congress tied his hands.
PaPa Bush, Obama orders a lot of @!$%# but what is this world coming too?
I don't get it PaPa Bush, the former deputy at state told a Congressional oversight committee that he didn't want it to be Constitutional to torture these @!$%#s (because it is against the law in the first place and 2/3 of these detainees were absolutely innocent) because the same predicate orbits over every US citizen.
Hey Barbra, that's why we have concealed military rule and the bureau, right...
Have some lemonade cause the nanocrats are such little cowards they will not even inquire if our fantasy emergency power, that is everywhere and forever now, is over them.
It will make them look bad!
Chuckles, quit laughing you pathetic bitch cause Nixon's lawyer, that built your intelligence service (at least the legal structure), is also my lawyer.