The Gitmo Promise

Why is everyone surprised?
Posted by Matthew Good on January 22, 2010

It’s not as if we’re unaccustomed to empty promises – c’mon now. Sure, President Obama promised to close Guantanamo within a year and that deadline and has now come and gone, but seriously, didn’t eight years of the Bush Administration teach anyone anything? Promises are for being made, not kept.

Let’s face it – when President Obama declared that he was going to shut down Guantanamo within a year it was front page news. Now that he’s failed to deliver it’s hardly been mentioned. That, of course, proves the theory true – promises are for being made, not kept.

Two-thirds of the American public don’t want detainees on US soil. Congress agrees with them because, let’s face it, getting re-elected is the goal. Then, of course, there are those detainees that are deemed too dangerous to release or that no one wants. So, when you get right down to it, those being held at Guantanamo will remain imprisoned without charge, perhaps for years to come.

In truth, Bagram is probably far more of a problem, but one that’s flown under the radar for so long that most people think it’s some form of Indian music and not a detention facility.

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