Guantanamo, other issues show leadership dilemma
The Oklahoman
May 18, 2009
OUR VIEWS Obama's shifting stances
The Oklahoman Editorial
May 17, 2009
CONFUSED by where things stand with Guantanamo Bay or the Obama administration's back-and-forth on releasing photos of detainee interrogations? You're not alone.
Recently, the administration has shown uncertainty on these issues, prompting the question: Why weren't things more thoroughly thought out before policy declarations were made?
Certainly, President Obama's Jan. 22 executive order to close the Guantanamo detention facility within a year lacked a pretty important detail: how to do it - which is what kept the Bush administration from closing it.
Attempts to get some of the 240 detainees accepted by other countries mostly failed. More recently the administration signaled that it's considering bringing detainees to the United States.
Politically, that's a live grenade rolling on the floor, scattering congressional Republicans and Democrats adamant that their districts and states won't host the likes of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and others.
Meanwhile, majority Democrats in the House and Senate struggled to agree on funding for Guantanamo's closing. The initial House version of a supplemental war spending bill omitted funds for closing the facility; the Senate included money but specifically blocked transferring any detainees to U.S. soil.
The overarching question is why the Obama administration would close Gitmo only to open a number of Gitmos inside the United States?
Unfortunately, it's difficult to get from this president definitive answers on the detainees, how they'll be processed legally and where they'll be housed. The experience of family members of victims of 9/11 and the attack on the USS Cole, who met with Obama in February, is revealing.
The White House called the meeting because Obama's decision to close Guantanamo and to suspend military commissions was criticized by victims' families, says Debra Burlingame, sister of American Airlines pilot Charles "Chic" Burlingame III, whose plane was crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11.
Writing for the opinion pages of The Wall Street Journal, Burlingame says Obama left attendees believing the administration wouldn't release any potential jihadists. But later that month Binyam Mohamed, suspected in a plot to set off a "dirty bomb" inside the United States, was released and repatriated to Britain. "We'd been had," Burlingame wrote.
Finally, there's Obama's flip-flop on releasing photos showing detainees under questioning. Obama was for it before deciding last week he is against it, convinced by military officials the photos would increase danger for U.S. troops.
These related developments suggest a president struggling to balance being popular with doing what's best for America's safety. It's the difference between running for office and trying to lead once elected, even if it means making unpopular decisions. On-the-job training can be uncomfortable to watch.
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