Obama tries to convince Americans of his Guantanamo policy

 2009-05-21 22:58:54  

    by Xinhua writer Yang Qingchuan

    WASHINGTON, May 21 (Xinhua) --

Amid a contentious debate on how to deal with terror suspects held at the Guantanamo prison, U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday vowed to break from Bush-era policies and tried to convince Americans he can make it right.

    "In all of the areas that I have discussed today, the policies that I have proposed represent a new direction from the last eight years," he said in a nationally-televised speech on national security.

    "We will vigorously protect our people while forging a strong and durable framework that allows us to fight terrorism while abiding by the rule of law," Obama noted.

    GUANTANAMO A "MORAL SETBACK"

    Defending his plan to close the detention facility at U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba within one year, the president said explicitly that "there is no question that Guantanamo prison set back the moral authority that is America's strongest currency in the world."

    "Instead of building a durable framework for the struggle against al-Qaida that drew upon our deeply held values and traditions, our government was defending positions that undermined the rule of law," said Obama.

    "Indeed, part of the rationale for establishing Guantanamo in the first place was the misplaced notion that a prison there would be beyond the law -- a proposition that the Supreme Court soundly rejected," he said.

    "Meanwhile, instead of serving as a tool to counter-terrorism, Guantanamo became a symbol that helped al-Qaida recruit terrorists to its cause," said Obama.

    "So the record is clear: rather than keep us safer, the prison at Guantanamo has weakened American national security," noted the president.

    "By any measure, the costs of keeping it open far exceed the complications involved in closing it. That is why I argued that it should be closed throughout my campaign. And that is why I ordered it closed within one year," he stressed.

    The president acknowledged that closing the prison will be "difficult and complex."

    "The problem of what to do with Guantanamo detainees was not caused by my decision to close the facility; the problem exists because of the decision to open Guantanamo in the first place," he noted.

    Obama said there are no neat or easy answers, but "the wrong answer is to pretend like this problem will go away if we maintain an unsustainable status quo."

    The president also said he could not "disagree more" with proponents of so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques" such as water boarding.

    "As Commander-in-Chief, I see the intelligence, I bear responsibility for keeping this country safe, and I categorically reject the assertion that these are the most effective means of interrogation," Obama noted.

    FIVE CATEGORIES

    The president then outlined his plan on how to deal with some 240 prisoners held at Guantanamo, saying he will divide them into five categories.

    First, "when feasible, we will try those who have violated American criminal laws in federal courts," he said.

    Second, detainees who violate the laws of war will be tried at Military Commissions.

    The president recently decided to restore the Bush-era Military Commission, which is a special military tribunal, to try some of the Guantanamo prisoners, while providing more legal protections for the defendants.

    The third category, the president said, involves 21 detainees who have been released by the courts.

    Fourth, there are detainees who can be transferred safely to another country.

    So far, the administration's review team has approved fifty detainees for transfer.

    Finally, there are detainees who "cannot be prosecuted yet who pose a clear danger to the American people" and may be held indefinitely after the closure of Guantanamo.

    The president acknowledged that the fifth category "is the toughest issue we will face."

    Nevertheless, he said the bottom line will be "I am not going to release individuals who endanger the American people."

    Obama said the United States must have a thorough process of periodic review, so that any indefinite detention is "carefully evaluated and justified."

    "Going forward, my administration will work with Congress to develop an appropriate legal regime so that our efforts are consistent with our values and our Constitution," he said, referring to a new system to hold some prisoners indefinitely.

　　DELICATE BALANCE

    Another major topic of the speech is the "balance of security and transparency," which the president used to defend his recent contradicting decisions of releasing Bush-era legal memos on interrogation policies and then blocking a release of photos that show U.S. personnel abused prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    "National security requires a delicate balance," Obama said.

    In April, the president supported the release of memos which showed the former Bush administration authorized harsh interrogation techniques on terror suspects, but he soon found things slipping out of his hand.

    Civil right groups and the left wing of the Democratic Party used the memos to make their case for prosecution of top Bush-era officials.

    Republicans fought back, accusing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other leading Democrats of also being implicated in the authorization of those techniques.

    Former vice president Dick Cheney seized the opportunity to launch a media offensive against the Obama administration's national security policy.

    He even gave an address on Thursday to make his own case and counter Obama's speech.

    On May 13, to avoid an all-out bipartisan fight, Obama reversed his position on the abuse photos, announcing that he will block the court-mandated release of these photos and will instruct his lawyers to prepare for a legal fight.

    Obama noted in Thursday's speech that, "in each of these cases, I had to strike the right balance between transparency and national security."

    The president also made it clear he opposes creating a "truth commission" proposed by some congressional Democrats to probe into torture, prisoner abuse and other legal allegations against the former Bush administration.

    "We will not be safe if we see national security as a wedge that divides America -- it can and must be a cause that unites us as one people, as one nation," he said.

    As the president is trying to convince his country that he can solve the thorny issue of Guantanamo and other related issues of torture and abuse, there is still no consensus on the issue in Washington.

    The Republicans such as Cheney oppose closing Guantanamo, while Obama's allies in the Congress have sided with Republicans to demand a detailed plan on Guantanamo.

    On Wednesday, the Senate voted to deny the president's request for 80 million U.S. dollars to close Guantanamo.

    The bill also bars detainee transfers to the United States or its territories, while Obama said the country's "supermax" prisons are enough to hold those prisoners.

Editor: Yan