Closing Down! Everything Must Go!

Thanks to BBC News!

We here at USDemocrazy hate getting into trouble (we are particularly sorry about that tomato soup incident with the office microwave).  Still, we think that punishment  for misbehavior is sometimes required as long as it fits the crime…

We are hoping that President Obama agrees.

Which brings us to the controversial prison camp at Guantanamo Bay.  The United States is currently holding over 220 political prisoners in Guantanamo. Obama made a campaign promise to close the facility within one year of office.

You can imagine the big mess (think tomato soup and microwave) he has on his hands as he tries to deal with the camp’s 220 inmates.

On November 17, 2008 (last year, folks), then President-elect Obama, speaking about closing Guantanamo, said,

I’m going to make sure that we don’t torture… Those are part and parcel of an effort to regain America’s moral stature in the world.

A weighty goal, that Obama hopes to meet by January 22nd, 2010.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is hinting that, because of complications, it may take much longer to close down Guantanamo.  He supported Obama, however, explaining the administrations decision-making process,

I actually was one of those who said we should [set a deadline] because I know enough from being around this town that if you don’t put a deadline on something, you’ll never move the bureaucracy… But I also said and then if we find we can’t get it done by that time but we have a good plan, then you’re in a position to say it’s going to take us a little longer but we are moving in the direction of implementing the policy that the president set.

Thank you Robert, for that mouthful of information!

To close Guantanamo, all of the 220+ political prisoners have to be placed somewhere else – tried in a U.S. court, sent home if they are found innocent, or put into prisons in their home countries if they are found guilty.

Now, those who planned the September 11, 2001 attacks are going to be tried in a court close to Ground Zero in New York City.

The five suspects all face the death penalty.  This trial has been pushed forward to help meet the Guantanamo Bay closing date in January 2010.

So, where do we really stand on this issue?  Honestly, who knows.

We need more time to see where prisoners are sent, where they will be received, and how the trials proceed here at home.

But boy are we glad that maybe, possibly, eventually, in some point in the future, this mess will be cleaned up… as well as those stubborn tomato stains in our office.