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As President Obama gears up for his presidential visit to Cuba this weekend – the first in 80 years – scientists are pondering the future of Guantánamo Bay Naval Base. One idea is the creation of a transnational conservation area, or peace park.

Merrick Garland born and raised in Obama's Chicago Harvard Law ScoolJamie Gorelick's principal deputy In 1993, Garland joined the new Clinton administration as deputy assistant attorney general in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. The following year, then-Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick—a key mentor of Garland's—asked Garland to be her principal deputy.

Seven years after the release of shocking images of tortured prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, the Supreme Court has turned back the appeal of 26 inmates from that infamous facility who wanted to sue two military contractors for damages. The military's official investigation revealed "numerous incidents of sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses" committed by military personnel and civilian contractors who provided support services at the prison. More than two dozen soldiers were reprimanded or court-martialed for their conduct. But those who were tortured want to sue two firms that hired the civilians who helped the military with...

While President Obama continues releasing terrorists from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo a new intelligence report discloses that dozens have reengaged in terrorism after leaving the compound at the Naval base in southeast Cuba. Of the 144 Gitmo prisoners freed by the Obama administration seven are confirmed to have returned to the fight, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). Of the 532 captives released under the George W. Bush administration, 111 eventually reengaged in extremist causes, the ODNI reveals. Gitmo detainees returning to terrorism is nothing new and in fact has been widely reported...

There is one way President Barack Obama can build support for shutting down Gitmo and transferring Islamic terrorists to the United States. And that is to get Cuban President Raul Castro to return convicted cop-killer and prison escapee Joanne Chesimard, also known as Assata Shakur, to the United States. Her return would not change the course of the debate on Obama's determination to empty out the prison at Gitmo, but it would at least show that Obama had some compassion for the victims of terrorism

The Obama administration said that the number of prisoners released from the Guantanamo prison camp who have returned to armed jihad has doubled over the past year. Many observers have been critical of the Pentagon's methodology in determining which prisoners have rejoined the fighting, believing that the true figures are much higher. Reuters: The number of former Guantanamo Bay prison inmates who are suspected of having returned to fighting for militants doubled to 12 in the six months through January, the Obama administration said on Monday. The increase could fuel Republican attacks on Democratic President Barack Obama's plan to close...

The Guantanamo Bay detention camps have been attacked by many, including our own president, as contrary to American Values, as not "who we are" and a "recruitment tools for or enemies."For those of us who have been there, who have observed the terrorists in court at Camp Justice., who have witnessed the great lengths our judiciary goes through to provide due process to the likes of Khalid Sheikh Mohammad (KSM) the red bearded, evil, boastful mastermind of the 9/11/01 attacks that murdered 2,976 individuals and shattered countless lives, GTMO is a symbol of American goodness and greatness.Please, Mr. President:I am...

For years President Obama and the progressives who support him have classified the prison at Guantanamo Bay, where the United States has housed the world's most dangerous terrorists and enemy combatants for nearly two decades, as a medieval dungeon rife with human rights violations and horrifying conditions. The prison is so bad, according to Obama, it must be shut down in order to protect U.S. dignity. But the real GITMO is quite another story, with detainees regularly watching movies and cable TV, spending time outside, playing video games, taking advantage of their religious freedom afforded to them by U.S. values,...

That should prove relatively easy, since transferring Gitmo detainees to the US remains illegal — under a law signed by Barack Obama. Paul Ryan promised a fight in both the legislative and judicial arenas to stop Obama’s latest iteration of his demand to shutter the detention facility at the Guantanamo naval base: House Speaker Paul Ryan says Republicans are taking legal steps to stop President Barack Obama from closing the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.Ryan told reporters Wednesday that lawmakers have the votes to block Obama’s plan in Congress and enough votes to override any veto. Separately, the...

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Testifying in front of the House Appropriations Subcommittee Wednesday, Attorney General Loretta Lynch reiterated that transferring detainees from Guantanamo Bay Prison to the United States is against the law. From the Washington Times: Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Wednesday that federal law flatly prevents President Obama from sending of the the detainees from Guantanamo Bay to U.S. territory, hurting his ability to follow through on his new closure plan. "That is the state of the law," she said, pointing to the most recent defense policy law passed late last year, which cleared Congress on a bipartisan vote and which Mr. Obama...

Bringing dangerous Guantanamo Bay inmates to U.S. prisons would undermine a terrorist recruiting tool, White House spokesman Josh Earnest argued on Tuesday: "Well, their argument would be a lot tougher, because the detention that we would have in place would be cleanly in line with American values, right? That we would ensure that this is consistent with the way that American citizens are treated. That certainly is more consideration than these terrorists give to their adversaries, to say the least." ...

President Barack Obama has renewed his call for closing down the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and has thereby refreshed his conflict with congressional Republicans over the future of the facility, currently home to 91 sundry villains captured abroad during our ongoing national confrontation with the forces of radical Islam. Gitmo presents the government with a triple bind: For President Obama, Gitmo is a hated symbol of President George W. Bush’s (purported) bellicosity and disregard for civil liberties; never mind that the Nobel Peace Prize laureate currently resident in the White House has discovered a strange, new, and convenient...

President Obama is urging Congress to approve the closing of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, allow for the transfer of remaining detainees to the U.S. and try them in U.S. courts. In calling for the policy change, Obama said the move would save taxpayers money without compromising security. In fact, Obama argues that America is less safe because of the facility.

Talking to Republican Colorado Senator Cory Gardner during her MSNBC show on Tuesday, host Andrea Mitchell lectured the GOP lawmaker on opposing President Obama’s plan to shut down Guantanamo Bay and bring terrorist detainees to prisons inside the United States: “So we’re holding prisoners, paying for them, and arguably hurting our standing in the world because Guantanamo has become such a red flag everywhere in the world, when we could have them locked up in the U.S. and put away for life.” In response, Gardner completely ripped apart her argument: “Well, actually, again, if you are a terrorist you belong...

A selection of lunch meals offered to detainees are displayed in a food preparation area.Automobile magazines are among the reading material available at the detainee library, March 7, 2013.Harry Potter movies are among the titles available at the detainee library inside Camp Delta,

President Obama's plan to shutter the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, ran into a buzz saw of opposition on Tuesday, underscoring how difficult it will be for him to fulfill a major campaign promise inhis final year in office. Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) best summed up the attitudes of his colleagues: He crumpled up the proposal and tossed it in the trash.

Washington (CNN)President Barack Obama on Tuesday called for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility after delivering his plan to Congress to achieve a goal that has long eluded his presidency. The blueprint comes seven years after Obama made an Oval Office vow to permanently shutter the prison for enemy combatants, but it already faces objections from Republicans and legal obstacles they have placed to transferring Guantanamo detainees to U.S. prisons. Obama nonetheless said emptying the prison would move the country past what he described as a troubled era of wartime behavior. "The plan we're putting forward today isn't...

Count Mitch McConnell among the unimpressed with Barack Obama’s plan to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. The Senate Majority Leader responded to Obama’s declared plan to transfer its detainees to one or more of thirteen potential locations within the US by reminding the President that Congress has opposed such a move on a bipartisan basis. And, by the way, such a move would be illegal — under bills Obama has already signed: McConnell: Congress Opposed to Obama Gitmo Plan Count Paul Ryan among the unimpressed as well: My statement on the Obama administration's Guantanamo plan: https://t.co/0wTrIyF5ya pic.twitter.com/eHDWP763Tt— Paul...

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) responded to President Obama's plan on Tuesday for closing the military prison at Guantanamo Bay by throwing the proposal in the trash.