http://www.ft.com/cms/s/00a5fe3e-a8e6-11dc-ad9e-0000779fd2ac,dwp_uuid=5aedc8 04-2f7b-11da-8b51-00000e2511c8,print=yes.html
Hopes dim for closure of Guantánamo By Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington The prospects of closing Guantánamo Bay before the end of the Bush administration are dimming as the Pentagon struggles to find a solution on shutting the controversial prison, according to former and current officials. Robert Gates, the defence secretary, told Congress in September that his push to close Guantánamo had run into obstacles from administration lawyers. But he assured senators the Pentagon was drafting a proposal that he hoped the administration would approve and then send to Capitol Hill. But three months on, the lawyers have made little headway. In addition to facing complex legal issues involved in closing the prison and transferring detainees to the US, they are running into opposition from other parts of the administration, including Dick Cheney, the vice-president. Asked by the Financial Times whether the Pentagon was making progress, Mr Gates replied that the process was moving, but slowly. One former senior official said the push to close Guantánamo had lost the intensity needed to have a realistic chance of closing the prison during the Bush administration. One problem was that officials across government agencies who want to reform the legal processing of detainees captured in the war on terror could not even agree on whether closing Guantánamo was the solution. Some argue that simply improving the legal procedures at Guantánamo used to determine whether a detainee is an enemy combatant, for example, by including more independent judicial oversight, would suffice. But others say that only closing Guantánamo will repair the damage it has done to the US image. The Pentagon has cut the Guantánamo population to about 300 detainees. It plans to bring about 80 detainees before military commissions, although that process has been fraught with legal obstacles and procedural delays. It wants to release another 70 but is having trouble getting other countries, including European countries who frequently call for the closure of the prison, to accept them. Most administration lawyers agree that closing Guantánamo would require some kind of administrative detention system to permit the indefinite detention of the roughly 150 prisoners who will not face military tribunals but are considered too dangerous for release. But Mr Cheney opposes bringing detainees to the US under such a system, because they would receive greater legal rights. Some officials also argue that closing Guantánamo would be redundant at this point since the US will come under criticism regardless of where it holds detainees. Officials also disagree over strategy in dealing with the Supreme Court, which last week heard two cases testing whether foreigners at Guantánamo have the right to challenge their detention, a right that Congress last year explicitly stripped from the detainees. Some officials advocate holding off on any proposal until the court rules. Others argue that a serious proposal with congressional backing would reduce the possibility of a ruling against the administration. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
