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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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