President Obama has made many promises throughout his presidency which he has not fulfilled; one of which is to close Guantanamo Bay. His campaign promise included the closure of Guantanamo Bay within a year of presidency. “The administration’s effort to end detentions at Guanta´namo Bay continues,1 but President Obama’s deadline to complete the process within a year of taking office will not be met. The effort to end detentions at Guanta´namo Bay has become a rallying point for some of the president’s domestic critics, who deem it an expression of weakness in the effort to combat terrorism” (Crook 115-116) “President Obama has pledged to close the US detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by Jan 23, 2010 (Rubenstein 353).” Obama also wanted to close all “secret” CIA detention facilities ““Military commissions have been used by the United States to try those who have violated the law of war for more than two centuries. Further, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized in Hamdan v. RumsfeldCongress’ power to determine the need for military commissions and to provide their jurisdiction and procedures, and this Congress has recent... ... middle of paper ... ...b.
According to the Bush Administration only the “worst of the worst” were to be housed in this new offshore prison. However, it was soon esta... ... middle of paper ... ...o the actions of both presidents and may never be able to recover. In reality, the anti-American sentiment that has been created because of Guantanamo has made the U.S. less secure that it was before it was created. Works Cited Dahlstrom, K. (2003). The Executive Policy Towards Detention and Trial of Foreign Citizens at Guantanamo Bay.
With all sorts of new and unique torture tactics being used at this prison, American citizens are unaware that they are being represented in such an unruly manner by their own military forces. According to many sources, close to 250 prisoners are said to be left at Gitmo. These men are held behind bars because of politically motivated convictions which cannot be defended in court (Lithwick 1). At least 21 alleged convicts were killed during (or after) their interrogations while in custody (Ardiente 2). Many reports of the long-term effects the imprisonment has on the men inside those prison doors.
After being transferred several times and enduring abuse and humiliation at the hands of his captors, he finally ending up in Guantanamo Bay. There he was held without trial, prosecution, or evidence for four years (Zaeef 1-25). These circumstances have become commonplace at Guantanamo in recent years. Despite claims, by the United States government, that Guantanamo enforces the security of both America and the world, the detention center should be shut down. Guantanamo should be shut down because it highlights America’s negative side, poses several risks against U.S. security, and creates stressed relations between the United States and its allies.
One such enemy meaning the US because we are against terrorism. There is no justification for terrorism and no reason for the government to try to justify it. According to Seifeldin Ashmawy in a meeting for the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Near East and South Asian Affairs, “The mask of religion must be torn from their [extremist] face and they should be recognized for what the stand for, greed and power.”(Ashmawy) and Ashmawy was right. The government’s reaction is usually that of after the fact; to arrest a suspected terrorist after they prove they are a terrorist by an act of death or destruction. Why should the government have to wait to arrest those who have a great and reasonable suspicion of terrorism against them, while the country unknowingly waits for the worst?
East Carolina University, 04 Aug 2010. Web. 25 Feb 2011. . Kouri, Jim. "CIA Director and Obama in Opposition Over Gitmo Terrorist Detentions."
Wanis-St. John, Anthony, “The national Security Council: Tool of presidential crises management,” Journal of public and international affairs, Vol. 9, no. 1 (June 1998): 1-29. “The National Security Policy Process: The National Security Council and Interagency System,” last modified August 15, 2011, http://www.virginia.edu/cnsl/pdf/national-security-policy-process-2011.pdf Sandra L. Hodgkinson, “Executive power in a war without end: Goldsmith, the erosion of executive authority on detention, and the end of the War on Terror,” Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law, 45(Fall 2012): 65+. (accessed March 9, 2014).
Accessed December 1, 2013. http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/11/world/meast/iran-nuclear-talks-tehran-reaction/ “The United States and the Iranian Nuclear Program: Policy Options.” Watson Institute for international studies, Brown University. Last Modified 2012. Accessed October 30, 2013. http://www.choices.edu/resources/twtn/documents/choices-twtn-iran-options.pdf Zagare, Franck C. “Game Theory.” Security Studies an Introduction 2nd Edition. Edited by Paul D. Williams. (New York, Routledge, 2013).
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Suspension of Law during Crisis. Political Science Quarterly, 127(4), 627-657. Pond, B. C. (2009). Boumediene v. Bush: Habeas Corpus, Exhaustion, and the Special Circumstances Exception. Brigham Young University Law Review, 2009(6), 1907-1933.