After meeting with Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, President Barack Obama reiterated his vow to close Guantanamo. The president said that he could Americans safe and release the terrorists held there.
Via the pool report:
[Obama]said that the rhetoric around Guantanamo “alienates Muslim-Americans” in the same way that the rhetoric around refugees does, and said the detention center “has been an enormous recruitment tool for organizations like ISIL.”
“We can keep the American people safe while shutting down that operation.” The population has been “reduced drastically,” with the bulk of transfers happening in the Bush administration.
“We have reduced that population further, and I expect that early by next year we may even have fewer than a hundred people at Guantanamo.”
“We are going to go through, meticulously, with Congress, what our optionsare, why we think this should be closed. I guarantee you there will be strong resistance. Because in the aftermath of Paris, I think that there is just a very strong tendency for us to get worked up around issues that don’t actually make us safer but make for good political soundbites, whether it’s refugees or Guantanamo, those are handy answer, particularly for folks who aren’t interested in engaging in a more serious debate about how we invest in the long, hard slog of dealing with terrorism.”
He again made reference to an AUMF, saying it was easier to talk about Guantanamo than to do the hard work to pass one.
“We can keep the American people safe while shutting down that operation.” The population has been “reduced drastically,” with the bulk of transfers happening in the Bush administration.
“We have reduced that population further, and I expect that early by next year we may even have fewer than a hundred people at Guantanamo.”
“We are going to go through, meticulously, with Congress, what our optionsare, why we think this should be closed. I guarantee you there will be strong resistance. Because in the aftermath of Paris, I think that there is just a very strong tendency for us to get worked up around issues that don’t actually make us safer but make for good political soundbites, whether it’s refugees or Guantanamo, those are handy answer, particularly for folks who aren’t interested in engaging in a more serious debate about how we invest in the long, hard slog of dealing with terrorism.”
He again made reference to an AUMF, saying it was easier to talk about Guantanamo than to do the hard work to pass one.
