WILL OBAMA DEFY CONGRESS ON GITMO PRISONERS?

Townhall.com ^ | December 29, 2014 | Byron York

[b4its2late]

He’ll prolly give Gitmo to Cuba.

[Kaslin]

That would not surprise me, Carter gave the Panama Canal after all to Panama

[Sacajaweau]

You mean the Panama Canal that Americans built and maintained??

Last I heard, the Pope was making arrangements for the gitmo monsters.

[TexasCajun]

GOPe Leadership & Obama are teammates.

[Kaslin]

Yes that one

[bonehead4freedom]

Today I have ordered the release of all prisoners being held in the U S military prison at Guantanamo Bay. I have executed this action because it was both necessary and the right thing to do. For us to imprison folks permanently without trail or legal recourse is against both International law and the American values that we hold so dear.I have asked Congress repeatedly to act on this matter and they have refused. Therefore I have used my authority as both Commander in Chief and Chief Law Enforcement Officer move on this matter and end this clear affront to common decency and International Law.This action will help to restore our standing in the community of nations,reduce unnecessary costs, and finally help end the long,bitter,and fruitless war on terror that we engaged in the past rather than listen to the legitimate concerns of some of our neighbors that we share this planet with. We can now move forward and open dialog with folks who may speak a different language or have a different faith without having to resort to fear based policies that we have used in the past. I believe this will give us the opportunity to move forward as a nation and re channel our resources to more productive measures. In the coming weeks I will be sending to Congress several of my budget proposals. They will have the opportunity to partner with me as we begin to move America forward leaving behind the rhetoric and failed policies of the past. I stand ready to work with the Congress but if the decide to stay mired in the policies of the past and won't do what they need to do I am prepared once again to take action where I must to ensure that we are able to continue our progress to move forward as a nation. Thank you and goodnight!

[fatnotlazy]

The king has already defied Congress by releasing prisoners.

[Alberta's Child]

Of the 132 remaining inmates, there is a hard core of perhaps 40 or 50 who, because of the nature of their terrorist activity and their detentions, the United States will never charge with crimes, will never put on trial and will never release.

That's really the problem right there, isn't it? If you're dealing with people who will never be charged with crimes, will never be put on trial, and will never be released, then what the hell was the point of apprehending them at all?

This is where the leftist lawyers who represent this sort of client really have a point.

[rfreedom4u]

And if he does what is Congress going to do about it?

Yell? Stomp their feet? Cry about the abuse of power? And then do absolutely nothing.

[Alberta's Child]

Did Congress ever authorize anyone to send these prisoners to Gitmo in the first place?

[DJ Frisat]

Defy Congress? I think he’s well beyond that. They are irrelevant. He simply does what he wants to do and doesn’t give a damn what Congress thinks. If he were defiant, it would be more contentious.

[bert]

The prisoners are not criminals, they are prisoners of war. They are battlefield enemies that must be removed from the battlefield so long as the war is in process.

Since the war will likely never end, the detention of the battlefield prisoners will never end so long as they are alive

The wackos that are the Obama administration believe there is no such thing as war any more and that lawyers are superior to warriors and must resolve the issue by making languages changes such as you have picked up calling the detained criminals rather than warriors.

[dforest]

Obama has already defied Congress on GITMO detainees Byron.

You should already know that.

[Alberta's Child]

They are not prisoners of war. Prisoners of war cannot be held indefinitely like this, and there is no legal basis — under U.S. law, international law or treaties that include the U.S. as a signatory nation — to detain them indefinitely simply by stating that “the war will likely never end.”

[Alberta's Child]

P.S. The term "prisoner of war" has no meaning unless the person in question is from a foreign nation that has had a formal declaration of war against it, approved by Congress.

I'll even go so far as to suggest that a government that declares an idiotic "War on Terror" against nobody in particular, thereby making every human being on the planet a potential "prisoner of war," has no legitimacy whatsoever.

[bert]

I get it..... you like the ascension of the lawyers intent on destroying the country

[arthurus]

How can anything he does be said to “defy” Congress? “Ignore” would be more appropriate. Congress will do nothing that even hints of seeming effective to stop whatever he wants to do.

[GizzyGirl]

He doesn't even need congress if he uses treaty modification/ratification which there is precedence for. I believe it's the whole reason for opening Cuba up, just so he can give them Gitmo!!

[null and void]

EVERYTHING obama does either:

a) Weakens America/Americans
b) Distances America's allies
c) Strengthens America's enemies
d) Serves Islam
e) Harms Israel
Or some combination of the above.

You tell me, will this accomplish any of the above?

No, then he won't.

Yes, and he will.