Obama still determined to close Guantanamo Bay, holds press conference - from TRUNEWS

(TRUNEWS) President Obama is still expressing his determination to close Guantanamo Bay, also known as GTMO.

He has made the pledge to close it and release the terror suspects being held there since the beginning of his presidency. It is located in Cuba.

“This is about closing a chapter in our history,” he said.

During a press conference Tuesday, Obama claimed GTMO undermines national security and that jihadists use the prison as propaganda when recruiting.  He also claimed it was too expensive to maintain.

When it was opened during the Bush Administration, more than 800 were held there. Now only 91 prisoners remain. Most have been shipped to Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Yemen or Oman.

U.S. military experts that are opposed to their release claim the terrorists eventually manage to get back to their home countries where they are seen as heroes.

Other opponents claim that the prison is more important now than ever, due to the rise in terrorism in recent years. Ret. Gen. Jack Keane expressed this opinion in a Fox News interview.

President Obama outlined several parts to his plan.  He said 35 prisoners have already been approved for release, and his proposal would allow for them to be freed soon.  Obama also said his administration would work with Congress to find a secure place in the U.S. to hold the remaining detainees who still pose a threat.

There are laws on the books preventing the prisoners from being held in the U.S.

Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) said the proposal to close GTMO is “dead on arrival”. He accused Obama of appeasing the radical wing of the Democratic party, in lieu of protecting Americans.

One of the prisons being considered to take in the detainees is Leavenworth, although President Obama did not mention it in his press conference. This idea has irked another Kansas lawmaker, Sen. Pat Roberts.

“It is against the law. Like most of the Presidents attempts to skirt the law and enact his agenda, doubtlessly this action will end up in the courts,” he said in a statement.

Some of the men who have been released have threatened attacks or have already committed them, including Abdallah Salih al-Ajmi, who successfully carried out a 2008 suicide bombing in Mosul, Iraq.

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