Day 1 of Obama - Day 1 Without An Executive Order Closing Guantanamo

I'm excited about our new president, but I'm more excited about closing Guantanamo NOW.

I hope that, tomorrow morning, or at least sometime this week, I'll get to look like a doubting thomas when Obama closes Guantanamo like he said he would.

Obama Will Issue Executive Order Within First Week to Shut Guantanamo

By Laura Meckler and Evan Perez, in the Wall St. Journal

Mr. Obama acknowledged over the weekend the process will take time. "It is more difficult than I think a lot of people realize," he told ABC's "This Week." "I think it's going to take some time." He added: "But I don't want to be ambiguous about this. We are going to close Guantanamo and we are going to make sure that the procedures we set up are ones that abide by our Constitution."

Here is the full text of the entire article, in case the link goes bad: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123179018983674483.html

Obama Will Issue Executive Order Within First Week to Shut Guantanamo

By LAURA MECKLER and EVAN PEREZ

WASHINGTON -- President-elect Barack Obama plans within his first week in office to issue an executive order to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, two people with knowledge of the plan said Monday.

The order won't immediately close the prison, the people said.

It is the first step in what is expected to be a long process of determining what to do with the approximately 250 suspects and potential witnesses in the war on terror who are held at Guantanamo.

Mr. Obama is expected to issue several executive orders in his opening days in office.

One person familiar with his plans said an order regarding interrogation methods is also planned.

This person said that the Guantanamo order isn't likely to come on Jan. 20, the day Mr. Obama is inaugurated.

The Guantanamo prisoners include so-called high-value detainees the U.S. officials still consider dangerous, among them Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged al Qaeda mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist plot.

Hundreds more detainees have gone through the facility, which opened in 2002 after the U.S. invaded Afghanistan. Guantanamo offered U.S. officials a place where they could hold detainees away from U.S. soil so they didn't qualify for legal protections.

President George W. Bush declared the detainees "unlawful combatants," who didn't qualify for protections under the Geneva Convention.

Rep. Jane Harman (D., Calif.) introduced a bill last week to close Guantanamo and said that as a result of operating the prison, the U.S. "has paid a steep price in eroded moral authority. We've flouted the very legal protections that we've tried to export to the rest of the world."

According to people familiar with Mr. Obama's plans, the executive order will direct officials to examine each detainee's case to determine who can be released and find a place to send those who must remain held.

Mr. Obama acknowledged over the weekend the process will take time.

"It is more difficult than I think a lot of people realize," he told ABC's "This Week." "I think it's going to take some time."

He added: "But I don't want to be ambiguous about this. We are going to close Guantanamo and we are going to make sure that the procedures we set up are ones that abide by our Constitution."

He said "part of the challenge" is that many of the people who have been detained may be "very dangerous" but have not been put on trial or had any formal adjudication, and the evidence against them may be tainted. Posted by Lisa at January 20, 2009 11:45 AM