Donald Trump presents plan to re-open it.
Obama presents plan to close Guantanamo prison
WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama presented a long-shot plan on Tuesday (Feb 23) to shutter the Guantanamo Bay detention centre, hoping to fulfil an elusive campaign promise before he leaves office next year.
Describing the jail as a stain on America's reputation and a catalyst for militants, Obama said "I don't want to pass this problem on to the next president."
"For many years, it's been clear that the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay does not advance our national security. It undermines it," Obama said from the Roosevelt Room. He outlined a US$290-US$475 million plan to move the 91 remaining detainees abroad and to one of 13 possible - unnamed - facilities in the United States.
Obama has tried for almost eight years to close the jail, but has been thwarted by Congress, his own Department of Defense and some in his own party.
As a candidate and as president, Obama has argued that the indefinite detention without trial of Guantanamo inmates harms America's image and makes it less safe. "It undermines our standing in the world," he said. "This is about closing a chapter in our history."
Lawmakers in the Republican-controlled Congress have blocked the most obvious path to closing the facility, banning the transfer of detainees to the United States, and there was little prospect of Republicans changing tack in the run-up to the November presidential election.
Obama presents plan to close Guantanamo prison - Channel NewsAsia
Obama presents plan to close Guantanamo prison
WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama presented a long-shot plan on Tuesday (Feb 23) to shutter the Guantanamo Bay detention centre, hoping to fulfil an elusive campaign promise before he leaves office next year.
Describing the jail as a stain on America's reputation and a catalyst for militants, Obama said "I don't want to pass this problem on to the next president."
"For many years, it's been clear that the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay does not advance our national security. It undermines it," Obama said from the Roosevelt Room. He outlined a US$290-US$475 million plan to move the 91 remaining detainees abroad and to one of 13 possible - unnamed - facilities in the United States.
Obama has tried for almost eight years to close the jail, but has been thwarted by Congress, his own Department of Defense and some in his own party.
As a candidate and as president, Obama has argued that the indefinite detention without trial of Guantanamo inmates harms America's image and makes it less safe. "It undermines our standing in the world," he said. "This is about closing a chapter in our history."
Lawmakers in the Republican-controlled Congress have blocked the most obvious path to closing the facility, banning the transfer of detainees to the United States, and there was little prospect of Republicans changing tack in the run-up to the November presidential election.
Obama presents plan to close Guantanamo prison - Channel NewsAsia