Gitmo closing update--still no plan

Although the Obama administration does not have a plan regarding the closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention center, its lack-of-plan includes the release, somewhere in the United States, of 17 Uighur detainees, as the Los Angeles Times reports:

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Thursday that he expected staunch opposition in Congress to the Obama administration's plans to release some of the Chinese Muslims detained at Guantanamo into the United States.

Confirming the plans for the first time, Gates said that the administration intended to release some of the 17 Chinese Uighurs into the U.S. as part of the process of closing the prison, although he added that a final decision had not been made. Gates said the Uighurs would face persecution if they were returned to China, as Beijing has demanded.

Republicans and some Democrats in Congress have expressed strong opposition to the plan to free the Uighurs to live in American communities. Gates said he understood that almost any administration move on Guantanamo was likely to be controversial.

"I fully expect to have 535 pieces of legislation before this is over saying, 'Not in my district, not in my state,' " Gates said, referring to the number of senators and members of the House.

Here's more lack-of-planning: Gates, who of course is a holdover from the Bush Administration, doesn't think it's a good idea to set free the worst-of the-worst from Gitmo. That's what Gates thinks, but others within the administration may think differently.

From AFP:

Even after the Guantanamo prison is closed, the United States may decide to keep up to 100 inmates under detention as they cannot be tried but are too dangerous to release, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told lawmakers on Thursday.

"The question is what do we do with the 50 to 100 -- probably in that ballpark -- who we cannot release and cannot try," Gates told a Senate hearing.

"I think that question is still open," Gates said when asked about President Barack Obama's plans to shut down the controversial "war on terror" prison.

His comments indicated that some inmates might have to be detained further even after the prison at Guantanamo Bay is closed as ordered by Obama.

One of Barack Obama's first moves as president was to announce the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

Related post:

Virginia could be destination for Uighur Gitmo detainees

Technorati tags: China 中國 中国 Gitmo guantanamo War on Terror Obama politics Barack Obama