“Decision Points” is not just the title of George W. Bush’s memoir — it’s also the Obama administration’s Gitmo strategy. Which is to say, after announcing the closure of Gitmo, the administration has, according to National Security Adviser Jim Jones, not made a single decision about how to implement that policy. I’ve removed the questions from the transcript since they’re largely irrelevant — the answers are all the same: no decision has been taken or made or reached or determined. As McCain would point out later in the show, maybe they should have figured some of this out before they announced — and took credit — for closing the facility. And keep in mind these are successive answers all dealing with Gitmo:
Will detainees be released into the United States, will the entire prison be relocated to the United States, will military commissions be resumed, will the President ask governors and state legislatures for their consent before building a new Gitmo in their states? One has to ask whether the administration might already have made some of these decisions if Jones didn’t have to bike across the Potomac for lunch everyday and get home for dinner by 7. Jones was equally evasive on other subjects. Does he believe Osama bin Laden is still alive? Read the transcript and judge the incoherence for yourself. Where does the administration stand on DADT? The president is going to listen to all sides very carefully before he makes a decision. And how will the administration proceed in the peace process? Jones once again linked negotiations to the threat from Iran in what is fast becoming official, if unannounced, policy:
Does this administration really believe that Tehran’s nuclear program is motivated by the failure of the peace process? How was that decision made, or like the decision to close Gitmo, is it simply dictated by ideology? Update: A reader responds to this last quote from Jones on the existential threat to Israel:
