OK, so maybe he was not totally bullshitting us. Or maybe he is.
President Obama took some impressive measures to undo a boatload of President Bush’s War on Terror legalistic machinations according to the Washington Post. Yes, for the Post, Obama’s executive order undermining the war on terror, was panty-wetting:
Key components of the secret structure developed under Bush are being swept away: The military’s Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, facility, where the rights of habeas corpus and due process had been denied detainees, will close, and the CIA is now prohibited from maintaining its own overseas prisons. And in a broad swipe at the Bush administration’s lawyers, Obama nullified every legal order and opinion on interrogations issued by any lawyer in the executive branch after Sept. 11, 2001.
I have to say this is no small order since it means the significant curtailing of government directives and reigning in on the new Cold warriors who operated secret prisons and torture chambers. It does not however remove too much of the meat of the American war on terror, including the PATRIOT Act’s poisonous rule.
Still, for Obama, this could become rather politically risky, as much as it is a world-pleaser now; any attack hereafter will cost the Obama administration tremendously as many will link it to these steps. The crazies who think Obama’s trying to free his Islamic cousins, would be joined by a torrential downpour of lunacy.
So, while it is signifies important change, we have to be sober about these moves against the clearly objectionable. It will not mean the end of American empire, nor of its nastiest tactics, including allying with dictators, and its self-awarded right to intervene in other nations. Even if Obama dismantled the war on terror completely, keep in mind that pre-September 11, 2001 America had problematic policies.
The closing of the Guantanamo, however, is not quite necessary. It would be a great place to detain Bush, Cheney and their ilk behind the criminal “war on terror” — true terrorists who wiped their ends with international law. Ahh, if only I were dictator. That would be real change.
Related posts:
- One-Sixth of His Life in Gitmo
- OBAMA: My bad, I’m actually going to need a second term to close gitmo and do other stuff you somehow got the idea I was going to do…
- UK Airplane Terror Plot
- So McCain WAS the Candidate of Change
- Zionism Must be Defended (or, Barack Obama’s AIPAC speech)
As if you’d be able to accomplish more in ONE f’in day as president? Jesus, give Obama SOME credit. He’s barely been able to take a shit in the white house toilet and fools are already off with the critiques
Posted by change | January 22, 2009, 10:26 pmIf any of the 250 people still held at Gitmo does anything against this country, Obama’s administration is over and we’ll be back to Jack Bauer tactics real soon.
I’m glad he got this out of the way now, because he obviously hasn’t had to deal with a “ticking bomb” yet. We’ll see if he’s willing to sacrifice American lives for these principles.
It was a must politically to placate his liberal fringe base, but there must be hundreds of CIA case officers banging their heads against the wall tonight. If ANYTHING happens, they will all spill the beans on how Obama destroyed America’s security.
Posted by Anonymous | January 23, 2009, 12:27 amthere we go
Posted by American Muslim Girl | January 23, 2009, 1:57 amMost of the Gitmo people are going to Europe so why does it matter to you lot. We’re taking the risk and we want it shut.
I don’t think you understand why Gitmo was hated so much. There America was saving the world from the evil dictators and ensuring the Iraqi people their human rights, but then suspending habeas corpus of suspected terrorists (not real terrorists as only about 60 of them will actually be tried) and allowing torture. It was unbelievably hypocritical.
Posted by Shafiq | January 23, 2009, 3:35 amAre we asking that we close gitmo, or that we end torture and bring back habeus corpus? Because if we’re just asking that he close down gitmo, it really isn’t that difficult to do. The torture chambers can be moved elsewhere, and by literally closing gitmo, symbolically it would please his liberal base — the same base that shouts out against the Iraq war, but isn’t really anti-war. Just like Barry!
Posted by Salma | January 23, 2009, 6:43 amI think he signed a order to stop all torture and banned the CIA from operating overseas prisons. And seeing as habeas corpus is guaranteed under the constitution, I think he’s done a good job.
Posted by Anonymous | January 23, 2009, 7:55 ami dont understand something,
so hes closing it, but where are the 200-sumthing prisoners going?
whats going to happen to them?
what about that canadian-afghani guy, is he like going back to jail in canada or somehting?
im confusedddd
Posted by Anonymous | January 23, 2009, 8:11 amhttp://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3660423…
Posted by Anonymous | January 23, 2009, 4:23 amThere actually exist a bunch of immigrant detention centers on U.S. soil where habeus corpus does not apply. Immigrants there are not considered to have the same rights as U.S. citizens so they’re not charged with anything for massive blocks of time. They’re also not afforded counsel unless they can pay for it. Additionally, the treatment of the detained is so bad, these centers are often described guantanamo bays in their own right.
http://ofamerica.wordpress.com/2008/06/18/
the-guantanamization-of-immigrant-detention/
Before we can truly celebrate anything the closure of these centers and the denouncement of these types of policies need to be in Obama’s plan.
Posted by Salma | January 23, 2009, 9:19 amI think that you are right about the detention centers.There is something going on in those places you can’t even findout information about some of them online.I have a family member that is in one now and they want tell me anything about him they say he is a federal prisoner so they can not give any information they can just tell me he is there.He has no money to call.they have moved him from a jail to a detention center,now to a otero processing center.And some of the others that were caught with him have already been sent back to their country .and I dont understand why he has not.Most of them are just lokking for a better life they are not harden criminals.Some of them are dying because they are not receiving medical care.They are humans just like we are.I pray he will make a change with all of that to.
Posted by Ashley | June 25, 2010, 9:03 am“I think he signed a order to stop all torture and banned the CIA from operating overseas prisons.”
Can you point me to where you got this information?
Posted by Anonymous | January 23, 2009, 9:20 am“Detainees at Guantanamo Bay could be housed at area centers”
By Ramon Bracamontes / El Paso Times
Posted: 01/23/2009 12:00:00 AM MST
EL PASO — While it is unknown where the 245 Guantanamo Bay prison camp inmates will be held when it shuts down in a year, it is possible some may end up one immigration detention center in El Paso and one just outside the city limits.
In his executive order to close Guantanamo in Cuba, President Barack Obama gave a task force 30 days to recommend policies on where Guantanamo detainees should be housed once it closes, and how terror suspects held in the future will be handled.
The El Paso Processing Center, which is operated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, can hold up to 840 detainees. On Thursday, the El Paso center, which is near the airport, had 760 detainees.
The Otero County Processing Center, which is in New Mexico outside of the Northeast El Paso city limits, has room for 1,000 detainees. It is privately owned and contracts with ICE and other federal agencies. The center had 768 ICE detainees Thursday.
All detainees at the two centers are suspected of violating immigration laws and are either awaiting trial or deportation.
“On any given day, you will find people there from every country in the world,” ICE spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa said.
If needed, ICE also has contracts with 68 other jails and detention centers in the El Paso-New Mexico region that can house immigration detainees.
U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence chairman, said he supports President Obama’s decision to close Guantanamo.
“The military prison at Guantanamo Bay has become a symbol for the previous abuses and mistreatment of detainees, and I fully support efforts to close the facility,” he said. “Today’s actions by President Obama are important first steps in working to provide America’s Intelligence Community with the tools and resources they need to keep America safe, and at the same time restore the United States to its proper place as a leader in the respect for human dignity and rights.”
http://www.elpasotimes.com/politics/ci_11533447
Posted by Anonymous | January 23, 2009, 9:34 am@Salma
Hilary Clinton is also notoriously opposed to habeus corpus for un documented people. gah.
@Anonymous, you can find that info on CNN.com i believe. it was one of the first executive orders he signed which will ultimately close all the CIA’s black sites
Posted by Lamees | January 23, 2009, 9:35 amGuantánamo detainee resurfaces in terrorist group
Just because you can’t prove in a court of law using evidence collected on a battlefield that someone is a terrorist, does not actually mean they are not a terrorist. How is it grown people can be so naive?
Posted by Anonymous | January 23, 2009, 10:09 am""The closing of the Guantanamo, however, is not quite necessary. It would be a great place to detain Bush, Cheney and their ilk behind the criminal "war on terror" — true terrorists who wiped their ends with international law. Ahh, if only I were dictator. That would be real change.""Yes, because jailing previous leaders for crimes real or imagined has worked out SO WELL in the countries where it's been tried! I can truly imagine this improving our political process by leaps and bounds!It's not like making sure the stakes of elections aren't *so high* that losing them doesn't mean death or arrest isn't fundamental to a democracy that continues to function, or something!Yes, Bush and Cheney committed some crimes. That's bad, but what's worse is that Bush was an awful president.Arresting him will not improve the functioning of the American government and political system — rather, it would irreparably damage it.Your revenge fantasies notwithstanding.
Posted by Joe | January 23, 2009, 7:49 am“”I think he signed a order to stop all torture and banned the CIA from operating overseas prisons.”
Can you point me to where you got this information?”"
here
Posted by Shafiq | January 23, 2009, 1:40 pmGeez, people – just read some news articles. Obama signed several executive orders in the first couple days that are, in short, the first steps to undoing many of the unlawful Bushco policy changes. And this is actually very good, even though he will not publicly condemn Israel.
Posted by alfannaan | January 23, 2009, 10:55 pmWhat makes you think he’ll privately condemn Israel? Is there something about him you know that nobody else does? Do you know him personally or something?
Posted by Anonymous | January 24, 2009, 7:43 amYes, how do you know what his private thoughts are? Or are you going by faith?
Posted by Anonymous | January 24, 2009, 7:44 amLooks like Barack is off to a great start, on track to keep his word and restore some international credibility for the US
Posted by coffee | January 24, 2009, 4:18 pmyo…anonymous, both of you. I did not say, or even imply, that I believe he privately thinks anything at all (how the hell would I know?) and I really can’t fathom why you even thought this. I was only inferring that it’s childish to discount a part of something that is good because you don’t like the whole.
Posted by alfannaan | January 24, 2009, 7:01 pmUPDATE: According to an ex-Gitmo inmate, the ‘ghost’ prisons that America runs abroad and tortures people in, will remain open.
Posted by Shafiq | January 25, 2009, 5:00 amHello,
I have already seen it somethere…
Charlie
Posted by Charlie | June 4, 2009, 3:23 amAKczut comment6 ,
Posted by Wllzeyzm | June 26, 2009, 3:49 am