Bush to Keep Guantanamo Open

In spite of past statements supporting closure of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, this will not happen under the current administration.

President George W. Bush has decided not to do so, and never considered proposals drafted in the State Department and the Pentagon that outlined options for transferring the detainees elsewhere, according to senior administration officials.

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In spite of meetings of top advisors and Supreme Court rulings

Bush adopted the view of his most hawkish advisers that closing Guantánamo would involve too many legal and political risks to be acceptable, now or anytime soon

The mess will be left to the next administration to sort out.

Both presidential candidates, Senators John McCain and Barack Obama, have called for closing Guantánamo and could reverse Bush's policy, though probably not quickly, since neither has spelled out precisely how to deal with some of the thorniest legal consequences of shutting the prison.

Part of the problem is the legal issues surrounding the illegal detentions.

...officials involved in the administration's discussions said that bringing the detainees to U.S. soil would allow additional legal challenges beyond habeas corpus and raise the prospect that judges could free them in the United States.

And in a real court of law as opposed to the military tribunals there may be judges willing to hold the administration responsible for their actions. Closing Guantanamo will open an entire arena the Bush administration wishes to keep well hidden. At some point in time the legal ramifications of keeping large numbers of human beings in illegal detention must be weighed against any possible harm their release may bring about.


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Peace.