Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Reuters.com
October 21, 2008
By Andrew Gray, Reuters
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. prison for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, will not close before the Bush administration leaves office in January, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday.
"This is an issue that'll have to be addressed early on by a new administration," Gates, who pushed inside the administration for the prison to be closed, told news agency reporters at the Pentagon.
Asked to state whether the prison would be closed before the administration leaves office on Jan. 20 next year, Gates replied: "No, regretfully."
The prison, and the justice system for its detainees, has been widely condemned by human rights groups and governments around the world, including close allies of the United States, who say it does not meet international legal standards.
Gates said the prison was now one of the best-run in the world but the reputation it acquired after it opened in early 2002 meant it was "a real liability for the United States."
Both candidates seeking to replace Bush -- Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama -- have pledged to close the detention center at a U.S. naval base on Cuba.
Gates said that would require legislation, for example to ensure that no Guantanamo detainees would have the right to emigrate to the United States.
Gates, a former CIA director who replaced Donald Rumsfeld at the Pentagon in late 2006, said the need for legislation had become clear when officials explored options for closing Guantanamo.
"There was virtually no chance of getting legislation through the Congress dealing with Guantanamo in the middle of a presidential election year," he said.
"It's probably one of the best-run prisons in the world today but the reality is, because of the past, it is a real liability for the United States," he said.
"My belief is the new administration and the new Congress ought to address this issue so we can get past this issue and close it," Gates said.
About 270 suspected members of al Qaeda, the Taliban and other associated groups are imprisoned at Guantanamo, which once held as many as 600 detainees.
October 21, 2008
By Andrew Gray, Reuters
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. prison for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, will not close before the Bush administration leaves office in January, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday.
"This is an issue that'll have to be addressed early on by a new administration," Gates, who pushed inside the administration for the prison to be closed, told news agency reporters at the Pentagon.
Asked to state whether the prison would be closed before the administration leaves office on Jan. 20 next year, Gates replied: "No, regretfully."
The prison, and the justice system for its detainees, has been widely condemned by human rights groups and governments around the world, including close allies of the United States, who say it does not meet international legal standards.
Gates said the prison was now one of the best-run in the world but the reputation it acquired after it opened in early 2002 meant it was "a real liability for the United States."
Both candidates seeking to replace Bush -- Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama -- have pledged to close the detention center at a U.S. naval base on Cuba.
Gates said that would require legislation, for example to ensure that no Guantanamo detainees would have the right to emigrate to the United States.
Gates, a former CIA director who replaced Donald Rumsfeld at the Pentagon in late 2006, said the need for legislation had become clear when officials explored options for closing Guantanamo.
"There was virtually no chance of getting legislation through the Congress dealing with Guantanamo in the middle of a presidential election year," he said.
"It's probably one of the best-run prisons in the world today but the reality is, because of the past, it is a real liability for the United States," he said.
"My belief is the new administration and the new Congress ought to address this issue so we can get past this issue and close it," Gates said.
About 270 suspected members of al Qaeda, the Taliban and other associated groups are imprisoned at Guantanamo, which once held as many as 600 detainees.
