Detainee hospital operating room at Camp Delta, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Detainee hospital operating room at Camp Delta, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. MCC Timm Duckworth USNR

President Obama’s Last, Best Chance to Close Guantanamo

Obama needs to stick to his veto guns, hurry up and offer his plan to close Guantanamo.

Congress’s budget deal passed last week brings into focus a drama that has plagued the Obama presidency: the fate of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay.

When President Barack Obama vetoed the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, he did so in large part over Guantanamo’s provisions, which, in the words of the president, “specifically impeded our ability to close Guantanamo in a way that I have repeatedly argued is counterproductive to our efforts to defeat terrorism around the world.”  The president was talking about provisions in the NDAA that make it more difficult to transfer detainees overseas, and completely block the transfer of detainees to the United States—which would effectively thwart the administration’s efforts to close Guantanamo before the president leaves office.

In the new, post-veto version of the NDAA, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Tex., hasn’t changed a letter in the onerous Guantanamo provisions because he believes the administration will accept them or be unable to muster the votes in Congress to sustain the president’s veto on Guantanamo.  The president needs to prove Thornberry wrong.

First, the president should reiterate he will not sign any bill that prevents him from closing Guantanamo. Thornberry has said that by signing the NDAA the president would simply be signing into law the same restrictions on Guantanamo that he has signed in prior NDAAs. That’s false. This year’s NDAA includes the most comprehensive set of restrictions and reporting requirements on Guantanamo that has ever been passed by Congress. The president should make clear to Thornberry and others in Congress seeking to block Guantanamo’s closure that they are putting the NDAA at risk by doing so.

Second, the White House needs to forcefully make the case to Congress and the American people for why Guantanamo should be closed now. Many forget that it was actually President George W. Bush—not Obama—that first pushed to close Guantanamo, arguing that “the detention facility had become a propaganda tool for our enemies and a distraction for our allies.” Many of our nation’s top military advisors agree.

Part of the reason that Thornberry thinks that he can use the NDAA to block the president from closing Guantanamo is because he believes there are not enough members in Congress that will vote to sustain the president’s veto over Guantanamo. But the president only needs one-third of the House or Senate to sustain his veto; the support from Congress will be there if he treats Guantanamo as seriously as he treated other foreign policy issues like the Iran deal and Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.

Third, the president needs to deliver to Congress a plan to close Guantanamo. Close observers know that the administration has in fact had a plan to close Guantanamo for years, but it’s time to bring all the elements of that plan into a single, detailed document and submit it to key leaders in Congress. Both Thornberry and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., have said they would be willing to consider changes to the NDAA provisions to allow Guantanamo to be closed if the administration provides a plan, and McCain has gone further to say that he’d try to sell the plan to his Republican colleagues. While it’s irresponsible for Congress to block Guantanamo’s closure under any circumstances, the administration’s failure to deliver a plan has become a perennial, unaddressed excuse for congressional malfeasance. But McCain has insisted he won’t lift a finger until Obama’s plan is delivered.

With just over a year left in office, Obama’s odds for closing Guantanamo are dwindling fast. But the job can still be done with the right focus, commitment, and strategy, if the president and his team show up to play. 

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.