Obama: Guantanamo Undermines National Security, Must Be Closed

In this Feb. 2, 2016 photo, a flag waves insideCamp 6 at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. After 14 years, the detention center appears to be winding down despite opposition in Congress to President Barack Obama’s intent to cl... In this Feb. 2, 2016 photo, a flag waves insideCamp 6 at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. After 14 years, the detention center appears to be winding down despite opposition in Congress to President Barack Obama’s intent to close the facility and confine the remaining prisoners someplace else. A military task force of 2,000 is now devoted to holding just 91 men, a number expected to drop by a third this summer. (AP Photo/Ben Fox) MORE LESS
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says the detention center at Guantanamo Bay undermines America’s national security and needs to be closed.

Obama says the detention center is counterproductive in the fight against terrorism because it’s used as propaganda to recruit terrorists and drains military resources.

The White House released Obama’s plan to close the facility on Tuesday, but the plan faces stiff opposition from the GOP-led Congress.

The plan calls for transferring remaining detainees to the United States and seeks up to $475 million in construction costs that would ultimately be offset by as much as $180 million per year in operating cost savings. It does not specify where in the U.S. the detainees would go.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  1. Avatar for pshah pshah says:

    Obama says the detention center is counterproductive in the fight against terrorism because it’s used as propaganda to recruit terrorists and drains military resources.

    I hear the President on this. But it’s a tough argument to make when the leading Republican candidate is doing the same.

  2. Avatar for tena tena says:

    Obama has been trying to do this since Day 1, when he signed the order closing the place. I’ve seen him blamed by the left almost weekly that it’s still open.

    It’s not Obama’s fault. And I doubt he closes it before he leaves because they won’t let him.

  3. Avatar for chammy chammy says:

    You mean Obama the dictator who has changed the country? Gawd I hate these people.

  4. I just wonder whether Obama has at his disposal a different way to get this done now. Otherwise, this current push will go over just like it did early in his presidency; Like a lead zeppelin.

  5. If we just wait long enough, I believe rising sea levels will moot this issue.

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