It will take a few more years and a congressional change of heart, but President Obama’s promise to close the terrorist prison at Guantanamo Bay naval base is now on a timeline to take place before he leaves office on Jan. 20, 2017.
“It takes a while to get things going,” said a key senior administration official. But, the official said, “we’ve been putting in that time and we’ve been putting in the preparation, and I think we’re going to see the fruits of that very soon.”
Despite an image of inaction, movement is everywhere under the guidance of Special Envoy Clifford M. Sloan, appointed a year ago. Some 79 low-level detainees who officials don’t believe are a threat to the U.S. anymore are slated to be sent home or to some 30 countries, such as Uruguay.
Most of the remaining 70 are getting hearings to make their case that they are no longer a threat. They probably also will get a ticket to another country, saving U.S. taxpayers about $2.8 million to take care of each prisoner and killing their lawsuits against Uncle Sam.
Some, like 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, are already on trial in military tribunals.
Then there are those still to be tried who officials would like to transfer to supermax prisons in the U.S. With just a few left at the deteriorating prison in Cuba, costs per prisoner could rise to $10 million compared with $78,000 at a U.S. prison. “It’s just so expensive to keep them at Guantanamo,” the official said.
“There is a path forward,” the official said. “President Obama doesn’t want to hand this problem off to his successor.”
STONERS ARE SMOKING THEMSELVES TO DEATH
President Obama’s drug czar has a warning for America’s stoners: Marijuana is the only drug on the rise in fatal car wrecks.
Deep in the September newsletter from the Office of National Drug Control Policy is a chart based on new Transportation Department statistics that shows 1,588 fatally injured drivers tested positive for cannabinoids in 2012, up from 1,176 in 2005.
Overall, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said 21,394 drivers were killed in traffic crashes in 2012. Some 4,520 testing positive for drugs, or 21 percent.
200,000 FROM EBOLA COUNTRIES CAN ENTER U.S.
More than 200,000 Africans from countries hosting the deadly ebola virus hold temporary visas to visit the United States, greatly raising the stakes it could spread to America, according to a group following the immigration issue.
“Based on State Department nonimmigrant visa issuance statistics, I estimate that there are about 5,000 people in Guinea, 5,000 people in Sierra Leone, and 3,500 people in Liberia who possess visas to come to the United States today,” said Jessica M. Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies.
Add to that “more than 195,000 Nigerians” with visas to visit, or who could already be here, she said of the country that has seen temporary U.S. visas skyrocket.
The government has promised that the U.S. is safe, but that’s not good enough for Vaughan. “At this time, with an extremely serious public health threat and more than 200,000 people who potentially could enter and spread it, either knowingly or unknowingly, the State Department and Department of Homeland Security should disclose to the public what they are doing to prevent travelers infected with Ebola from entering the country,” she told the Washington Examiner.
HUMANE SOCIETY TARGETS HORSE CRUELTY LOGJAM
Armed with endorsements from 305 House members and 58 senators, the Humane Society of the United States is pressuring congressional leaders to set a vote on legislation to ban a cruel trick used to get some Tennessee Walking Horses to high-step at shows.
It is called “soring” and it inflicts pain in a horse’s hoof to get the high-step the walking horses are known for. It was supposedly banned years ago, but is still in limited use.
A Humane Society investigation revealed the painful methods used, prompting the legislation.
Kentucky and Tennessee lawmakers, however, said that the group’s real goal is killing the shows and that up to 98 percent of trainers follow the law. “Our goal is to find a way to preserve the Tennessee Walking Horse tradition and stop the cruelty to horses,” said Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander.
Humane Society President Wayne Pacelle said the anti-soring legislation should be voted on before the November elections.
“The horse soring crowd is in the same league as the cockfighters and the dogfighters,” he said. “It’s a disgrace that there are lawmakers who give political protection to these criminals.”
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
