President Barack Obama moved quickly to undo his predecessor’s most contentious national security programs on Thursday, ordering the closing of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba within a year and prohibiting harsh interrogations and treatment of prisoners.
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“We are going to win this fight, we are going to win it on our terms,” Obama said of pursuing the campaign against global terrorism.
On his second full day in office, Obama said he hoped to send a message around the world that the U.S. would pursue the struggle against violence and terrorism vigilantly, effectively and “in a manner that is consistent with our values and our ideals.”
He said his administration would not “continue with a false choice between our safety and our ideals,” an express slap at policies pursued by his predecessor, former President George W. Bush.
“It is precisely our ideals which give us the strength and moral high ground to deal with the unthinking violence that we see emanating from terrorism organizations around the world,” Obama said.
The president, now in his second full day in office, also was ready to trumpet Hillary Rodham Clinton’s installation as secretary of state while turning to veteran dealmaker George Mitchell to guide the new administration through the Mideast thicket.
Reinforcing Obama’s steps to quickly put his own stamp on U.S. foreign and defense policies, Retired Adm. Dennis Blair, who will oversee all intelligence agencies, told a Senate confirmation hearing that Guantanamo must be closed because it is “a damaging symbol to the world.”
Blair told the Senate Intelligence Committee that one of his main responsibilities will be rebuilding the American people’s trust in the nation’s intelligence agencies.
“The intelligence agencies of the United States must respect the privacy and civil liberties of the American people, and they must adhere to the rule of law,” Blair said.
