White House press secretary Dana Perino has warned Obama that it’s “not so easy” to shut down Guantanamo Bay, after reports that he plans to move swiftly on the issue, reports the Guardian.
“Under plans drawn up by Obama’s advisers, between 60 and 80 detainees would be put on trial in the US in a mix of civilian criminal courts and the court martial system. About 17 high-level detainees, such as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, would also go on trial but before a new version of a national security court – not the Bush administration’s much criticised military tribunals.
“But White House press secretary Dana Perino said yesterday: ‘When you pick up people off the battlefield that have a terrorist background, it’s not just so easy to let them go. It’s not so easy just to say that you’re going to close Guantanámo Bay.’ “
Read the full story here.
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