It’s a good question. The answer eludes me, though when one introduces the reality of politics the reasons become more evident. Beyond that, even the farcical military tribunals set up to try those at the facility have been restarted, though a few changes have been made in an attempt to make them more transparent…

“With less than three months left to make good on his promise to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay within one year and virtually no effort made so far to do so, President Barack Obama has signed the military funding bill which will effectively restart military tribunals at the facility.

Today’s move finalizes a plan concocted by the president in May, which would make a handful of cosmetic changes to the tribunal system, giving detainees a little control over their legal counsel and barring certain types of hearsay evidence.

Though some have praised the moves, many insist they don’t go nearly far enough, and that the tribunals continue to have features, including the possibility of trying children, which violate international law.

Despite the move, President Obama insists that he is “serious” about eventually closing the Guantanamo facility, though he no longer appears to be touting his January 22, 2010 deadline and this is widely expected to have fallen by the wayside.”

When it comes to the tribunals, I can’t think of another example in modern history that compares to their utter trouncing of the rule of law that doesn’t involve evoking various totalitarian regimes.