Obama's GITMO Speech Analysis

The Provocateur ^ | 05/21/2009 | Mike Volpe

[fiscon1]

The text is here.

You gotta hand it to President Obama. He spent nearly an hour criticizing, in a scathing manner, all parts of President Bush's anti terror policies, but he was able to slip this in.

That is what I mean when I say that we need to focus on the future. I recognize that many still have a strong desire to focus on the past. When it comes to the actions of the last eight years, some Americans are angry; others want to re-fight debates that have been settled, most clearly at the ballot box in November. And I know that these debates lead directly to a call for a fuller accounting, perhaps through an Independent Commission.

[Harley]

As we make these decisions, bear in mind the following fact: nobody has ever escaped from one of our federal "supermax" prisons, which hold hundreds of convicted terrorists. As Senator Lindsey Graham said: "The idea that we cannot find a place to securely house 250-plus detainees within the United States is not rational."

Since the government has afforded all the Guantanamo detainees the accords of the Geneva convention covering prisoners of war do the following articles apply?

Excerpt from Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War Article 22

Prisoners of war may be interned only in premises located on land and affording every guarantee of hygiene and healthfulness. Except in particular cases which are justified by the interest of the prisoners themselves, they shall not be interned in penitentiaries.

Excerpt from Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War Article 97

Prisoners of war shall not in any case be transferred to penitentiary establishments (prisons, penitentiaries, convict prisons, etc.) to undergo disciplinary punishment therein.

I predict if the President keeps making these decisions without any sound strategic thought he will continue to make things worse. The decision to close Guantanamo without a well thought out plan in advance is the biggest mistake of his Presidency...so far.