Yesterday, CIA director Leon Panetta said that Osama bin Laden, if he were captured by the U.S., would “probably” be sent to Gitmo. On that same day, Jay Carney, Obama’s new press secretary, said that “The president remains committed to closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay, because as our military commanders have made clear, it’s a national security priority to do so.’’
So where does the Obama administration stand today on this issue? It still is not clear.
As Politico reports, Attorney General Eric Holder was asked today about it at a press conference:
Holder punted. So the question remains: Where would Osama bin Laden go if he were to be captured by the U.S.?
Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staffs, reiterated that point. “We don’t have an answer to that question,” Mullen told members of Congress this morning when he was asked where bin Laden would go.
More than two years after the president signed an executive order that was supposed to shutdown Gitmo, the administration still hasn’t thought through the implications of this policy.
