There is a quite a bit that could be said about this and I know some of you are thinking that I am going to sound like some of the Neo-Cons. But as some of you know, I am not on Neil or John Podhoretz’s payroll; so I do think for myself. So, no, I am not going to rile Obama for breaking his campaign promises. That’s because Obama has not broken any, when it relates to this….yet.
Via The Washington Post:
A Pentagon review of conditions at the Guantanamo Bay military prison has concluded that the treatment of detainees meets the requirements of the Geneva Conventions but that prisoners in the highest-security camps should be allowed more religious and social interaction, according to a government official who has read the 85-page document.
The report, which President Obama ordered, was prepared by Adm. Patrick M. Walsh, the vice chief of naval operations, and has been delivered to the White House. Obama requested the review as part of an executive order on the planned closure of the prison at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, on the southeastern tip of Cuba.
Another aspect of the closure — what to do with the approximately 245 detainees — will be considered by an interagency task force, and yesterday the Justice Department announced the head of that group: Matthew G. Olsen, a 12-year career prosecutor and acting assistant attorney general for national security.
Review teams will examine each detainee’s case and report to Olsen, who will make recommendations to senior officials from Justice and other agencies, including the departments of State and Defense and the CIA. Those officials will make the final decision on each prisoner.
“The Task Force will consider whether it is possible to transfer or release detained individuals consistent with the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States; evaluate whether the government should seek to prosecute detained individuals for crimes they may have committed; and, if none of those options are possible, the Task Force will recommend other lawful means for disposition of the detained individuals,” the Justice Department said in a statement.
Now here is where most of your Neo-Conservatives, or those who supported George W. Bush’s asinine idea of going to war with a country, that had zero to do with 911; start carping, “See! I told you so, I told you so, I told so!” But that, as always, is not the point. The point is that Obama wanted to know the standards being used at Gitmo, but he is going to close it anyhow. The Neo-Conservative fear mongers are playing this as some sort of horrible security risk. Which has to be one of the biggest insults to Nation’s various law enforcement agencies. We have had like death row inmates in California and Texas for how long? They have not escaped. I do believe that our Nation’s law enforcement agencies would well handle some of these guys. I must confess that the idea of a couple of them getting “bumped off” in a prison really does not bother me at all. I mean, after all, I do remember what happened on 9/11 and turn about is fair play.
On an unrelated matter, Ed Morrissey, comments over at Neo-Con Central about this article here, spouts the following Neo-Con Stupidity:
All statements from Barack Obama come with expiration dates. That’s something that the HopeandChangizoids have begun to learn just a month after the dawning of the Age of Obama. A lot of them owe Bush — and us — apologies.
His sentiments about “The Magic One” aside, I will take issue with the whole “A lot of them owe Bush — and us — apologies.” line. Ed; if anything, George W. Bush, The Republican Party and every last one of the fucking Neo-Conservative leaders; owes the American people an huge apology for lying to America about the fact that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, owes the American people for consistently moving the fucking goal posts every time one of his hair brained conclusions about Iraq was proven wrong, Owes the American people for illegally spying on million of Americans without warrants, owes the American people an apology for taking the damn focus off of Afghanistan and for allowing the actual mastermind of the 9/11 attacks escape and now leaving us with a situation where we might not ever be able to capture him. The Liberals and those of us who were against the war in Iraq owe the Neo-Conservatives nothing at all. Get used to it and enjoy being in the damned Minority, because, quite frankly, that is where you bastards fucking belong.
I know, you’re thinking, “Damn that’s harsh!” There’s a reason I got a huge beef with Morrissey and his clan of “Go along to get along” crowd over there at HotAir.com. I was tossed and banned from HotAir.com’s Commenting section AND Ed’s Chatroom that he runs during his show. Because I refuse to go along with the notion of embracing diversity, and because I dared to speak my mind about race of people that I personally believe have contributed to the moral decline of this country. No, I am not talking about Jews. I am talking about Negro race. That’s right folks, that is how I feel, I make no bones about it. Want to see a perfect example? Look at Detroit. Look at the rap music scene and you tell me, that the Negro race is not contributing to the moral decline in this country. Plus, my own cousin was shot and killed by two corrupt Negro Detroit Cops and one Mexican cop. I admit the details of that killing was some of my cousin’s fault, mostly because of some rather bone-headed stupidity on his part. But the Detroit cops that killed my cousin went way, way, way overboard on their use of force. It happened back in 1992 or 1993, I cannot remember which, it was never in the media. Oh they checked into it, but once they saw that my cousin was White and cops were black, they retreated from it, in a big hurry. Had the roles been reversed? It would have been on the front page of every newspaper in this country. But yet, Morrissey and his clan over there resented me coming in there and saying how I feel about blacks. Sorry, I categorically reject the notion that “All men are created equal” horse shit that the father of “Big Government”, Abe Lincoln opined in his document that basically sold the American White man up the damned river. So does my dead cousin, Michael Hill.
Update: Ooops, Forgot these: QandO, Pirate’s Cove, Stop The ACLU, Power Line, Jules Crittenden, Don Surber, Outside The Beltway, PoliGazette
