Obama: No "Easy Answer" On Gitmo

President Argues He Has Been Forced To Deal With "Misguided Experiment" As Cheney Criticizes His Policies And Defends Record

(CBS/AP)  President Barack Obama forcefully defended his decision to close the Guantanamo detention camp Thursday and said some of the terror suspects held there would be brought to top-security prisons in the United States despite fierce opposition in Congress.

He insisted the transfer would not endanger Americans and promised to work with lawmakers to develop a system for holding detainees who can't be tried and can't be turned loose from the Navy-run prison in Cuba. He spoke one day after the Senate voted resoundingly to deny him money to close the prison.

"There are no neat or easy answers here," Mr. Obama said in a speech in which he pledged anew to clean up what he said was "quite simply a mess" at Guantanamo that he had inherited from the Bush administration.

Moments after Mr. Obama concluded, former Vice President Dick Cheney delivered his own address across town defending the decisions of the Bush administration in dealing with terrorism. Expressing no remorse for the actions the Bush White House had ordered, Cheney said under the same circumstances he would make the same decisions "without hesitation." (Read more on Cheney's speech in Hotsheet.)

Mr. Obama noted that roughly 500 detainees already had been released by the Bush administration. There are 240 at Guantanamo now. The president said that 50 of those had been cleared to be sent to other countries - although he did not identify which countries might be willing to take them.

Mr. Obama conceded that some Guantanamo detainees would end up in U.S. prisons and said those facilities were tough enough to house even the most dangerous inmates.

The president decried arguments used against his plans.

"We will be ill-served by the fear-mongering that emerges whenever we discuss this issue," he declared.

Speaking at the National Archives, Mr. Obama said he wouldn't do anything to endanger the American people.

He said opening and continuing the military prison "set back the moral authority that is America's strongest currency in the world."

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FULL TEXT: Read President Obama's Entire Speech Here.

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Mr. Obama spoke in front of a copy of the Constitution, to members of the Judge Advocate General's Corps, diplomatic, policy and development officials and representatives of civil liberties groups.

"I can tell you that the wrong answer is to pretend like this problem will go away if we maintain an unsustainable status quo," Mr. Obama said. "As president, I refuse to allow this problem to fester. Our security interests won't permit it. Our courts won't allow it. And neither should our conscience."

Mr. Obama said his administration was in the process of studying each of the remaining Guantanamo detainees "to determine the appropriate policies for dealing with them."

"Nobody has ever escaped from one of our `supermax' prisons which hold hundreds of convicted terrorists," Obama said.

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Analysis
Daniel Farber: Mr. Spock Vs. Jack Bauer
Andrew Cohen: Humility And Oversight
Mark Knoller: Speeches Underscore "Great Dividing Line"

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Mr. Obama used the speech as an effort to try to retake the initiative on the matter. He spoke a day after the Senate, led by majority Democrats, followed the lead of the House and voted decisively to deny his request for $80 million to close the prison. Lawmakers said they would block the funds until he gave a more detailed accounting of what would happen to the detainees.

He sought to do that in his speech, but stopped short of offering a clear answer on the key question of what to do with detainees who won't be tried for war crimes but are likely to be held indefinitely.

He described this group as those "who cannot be prosecuted yet who pose a clear danger to the American people."

"I want to be honest: This is the toughest issue we will face," Obama said.

He said his administration would "exhaust every avenue that we have" to prosecute detainees but there would still be some left "who cannot be prosecuted for past crimes" yet remain a threat.

Among these, he said, are prisoners who have expressed allegiance to Osama bin Laden "or otherwise made it clear they want to kill Americans."

"So going forward, my administration will work with Congress to develop an appropriate legal regime" to handle such detainees "so that our efforts are consistent with our values and our Constitution."

"We do not have the luxury of starting from scratch," an administration official told CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller.

Mr. Obama criticized what he said was an effort to politicize the issue.

"I know that the politics in Congress will be difficult. These issues are fodder for 30-second commercials and direct mail pieces that are designed to frighten. I get it. But if we continue to make decisions from within a climate of fear, we will make more mistakes," he said.

Obama said he had no intention of looking back and "relitigating the policies" of the Bush administration.

But at the same time, he strongly criticized former President George W. Bush's actions. "Our government made decisions based upon fear rather than foresight and all too often trimmed facts and evidence to fit ideological predispositions," he said.

"In other words, we went off course."

The president again rejected the idea of an independent commission that would investigate the whole range of national security issues under the Bush administration.

"I recognize that many still have a strong desire to focus on the past. When it comes to the actions of the last eight years, some Americans are angry; others want to re-fight debates that have been settled, most clearly at the ballot box in November," Mr. Obama said.

"I know that these debates lead directly to a call for a fuller accounting, perhaps through an independent commission," he said. But he insisted that "our existing democratic institutions are strong enough to deliver accountability."

He also defended his decision to try to block the court-ordered release of detainee abuse photos. "Release would inflame anti-American opinion" and threaten American soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, Mr. Obama said. His decision against releasing the photos has been criticized by human-rights groups.

Mr. Obama had first suggested he would allow the photos to be released, but changed his mind after listening to advice from the military and intelligence advisers.

On another recent controversy, he defended his decision to release CIA interrogation memos, saying there was "no overriding reason to protect them." He said the interrogation methods, which included waterboarding, were already known - and that he had banned them.

Cheney praised Mr. Obama for two "wise" decisions - his handling of the war in Afghanistan and his decision to try to block the court-ordered release of detainee-abuse photos. "He deserves our support" for such actions, Cheney said.

But, the former vice president said, the current administration's actions on Guantanamo and other steps in the war against terrorism "should not be based on slogans and campaign rhetoric, but on a truthful telling of history."

Cheney has become the most outspoken high-ranking Bush official in criticizing the Obama team, suggesting steps the new president has taken have made the country less safe.

Cheney denounced Mr. Obama's announcement on his second day in office that he would close Guantanamo. He said the decision came with "little deliberation and no plan."

"Now, the president says some of these terrorists should be brought to American soil for trial in our court system. Others, he says, will be shipped to third countries. But so far, the United States has had little luck getting other countries to take hardened terrorists."

Cheney spoke at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank.

The former Vice President suggested that when terrorists "see the American government caught up in arguments about interrogations or whether foreign terrorists have constitutional rights, they don't stand back in awe of our legal system and wonder whether they had misjudged us all along."

"Instead, the terrorists see just what they were hoping for: our unity gone, our resolve shaken, our leaders distracted," he said. "In short, they see weakness and opportunity."

[starleo146]

They wanted more details. Or didn't you read the article?

And since when is Congress supposed to do whatever a President wants? It's part of our system of checks and balances.
Posted by slownewsday05_ at 6:44 PM : May 21, 2009

Too bad the stupid Congress didn't do the same when Bush was president. We would be in a whole different place today

[starleo146]

Why would it cost so much to close? And why bring them to the us? Send them to China.
Posted by mje222 at 7:08 PM : May 21, 2009

These are not Obama's prisoners, they are Cheney's, he owns land in Dubai send them there, and close Quantonomo and save us money. Those are his prisoners that came from his war, and give them to his favorite rich dogs in Dubai, you remember Dubai don't you, that is the people the Bush administration fought to have them to guard our ports, so who better than to guard Cheney's prisoners, you heard Cheney because he was so educated in defense of our country Bush left all that up to him what a mistake,.

[brianbwb-2009]

There is a serious problem with some of the victims of Bush's crimes against humanity, they were not soldiers, they were not even participating in resistance activities, many were simply ratted out by their neighbors, to settle feuds, steal property, avoid past debts, etc.

These people committed no crime that is chargeable, but still they sit in Bush's concentration camps, some of them having been tortured. the question becomes what to do with these victims of Bush's crimes?

One answer is to let Bush be processed for his crimes, then the victims can sue Bush personally for reparation, as well as anyone who participated in their incarceration.

This is the solution most fair, but while they await the outcome, do they continue to sit in prison for nothing?

This is the mess Bush left us with.

The wise answer is to follow international law, if the country they were taken from will not accept them, and no other country will bear the burden of Bush's crimes, then they become the responsibility of the US, whether the neos like it or not.

[mje222]

Why would it cost so much to close? And why bring them to the us? Send them to China.

[mikesarcbs]

I believe, and I am sure our new President and his entire staff also believe, that VP Dhaney has the same equal free speech rights as anybody else, even those released by the Bush Administration from Guantanamo.
The Democrats would do well to have a group of volunteers stand, as close as VP Chaney allows, or his paranoia armed body guards think it safe for a bunch of Democrats to stand, some with different skin pigmentation. to try to tone down some of the shouts by our people.
VP Chaney never expressed sorrow for shooting a friend, do you think he feels sorry for the 4,935 soldiers he sent to their deaths based on a bunch of lies.
Every student of history anywhere in the world, will study our Waterboarding techniques and other inhumane treatment and compare it to the Waterboarding techniques in Spain used by the Inquisition, started and used for 700 years and continued in 1450 by Torquemada. You wont believe this, but citizens that suffered so much under the previous regime, had no compunction using the same tortures techniques so long used on them -for 700 years.
The Muslim Inquistion was started by Calih Mahdi in the 8th Century.
VP Chaney wants to defend and continue to use torture without blinking an eye.
Where did his teachers and parents fail him.
How can be so old and so wealthy, never shot by anybody but probably, like that famous saint, cannot spell compunction, or have knowledge of such feelings. Can you be an American and not be human? Does he wants America to go back to the Muslim tortures of the 8th Century? He has a great following in America, given an opportunity, could he have been our First Hitler in America! With great support by many willing to abandon human rights and civility. Will the South Raise Again or Did Education Kill Hitler and Neanderthal ideals?
I await the answer from history. VP Chaney has a great following.

[dhutch88]

Obumbles is a fool. What good does it do to bring terriorist to our soil. Zero, none, Zilch. That is why they CONGRESS voted it down. Obumbles is out of his league and everyone who has any intelligence can see it.

[sjc_1]

The President WILL close down Gitmo, whether the Congress likes it or not. He WILL put them in Federal Prisons if that is what he chooses to do, whether the Congress likes it or not. The egomaniacs in Congress need to shut the heck up and start working on real problems and solutions to help people.

[thusspokezara]

The Golden Calf Obama thought that he would be able to run the USA like Daley runs Chicago. Has he figured out yet that the USA is not Cook County?

[starleo146]

easy solution to the gitmo detainee problem,

LETS HAVE EVERY SINGLE REPUBLI'CON' THAT SUPPORTED THE

BUSH/CHENEY IDIOCY TAKE A DETAINEE HOME WITH THEM,
Posted by mcintoshlou at 12:41 PM : May 21, 2009
+ report abuse + permalin

Obama should say ok you think you do not want to close Quantomono. I will close it and release all back to their representing country and that will be that except one thing Quantonomo will be closed by January with or without your help. We can do this the right way or I will do it my way

[violist47]

Our treatment of prisoners, including our use of torture, has demolished our reputation around the world. One reason that most countries do not want to take Guantanamo prisoners is that they figure we botched the problem, so we should fix it. We do not even recognize the international court at the Hague, although that should be the proper venue for whatever charges we are bringing against these men - men we have held illegally for years. Why should other countries take responsibility for our mistakes?

[ReallyMeanIt]

"When President Obama won the Presidency, I posted many times , in many sections that even if Obama won, that the Repub's would do everything in there Power to Sabotage, Destroy, Undermine, Smear and try to ruin any attempts by Pres. Obama to fix the Horrific Mess ..........."
Posted by bluegrass101-2009
---------------------------------------------------------
Look in the mirror, the libs would never do that to Bush.

[mcintoshlou]

Would (Name of Entity Here)'s Policies Push The Nation In The Right or The Wrong Direction?

BARACK OBAMA: 63% Right Direction 35% Wrong Direction
DEMOCRATS IN CONGRESS: 57% Right Direction 40% Wrong Direction
REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS: 39% Right Direction 57% Wrong Direction

That's right, kids. Even with the metric ton of feces that have been thrown in Nancy Pelosi's direction, even with Harry Reid being...well...Harry Reid, Americans prefer Democratic policies guiding this country to GOP policies guiding this country by a 3-to-2 ratio.

[hungry1968-15]

Oops, AGAIN! It's Obama's CIA chief who said Pelosi is wrong. I guess you are just too much in touch with your feelings...
Posted by czhnder at 12:40 PM : May 21, 2009

It was not Obma's CIA Chief but a document from the Bush era. I love it when the CIA Chief is releasing documents without editing them.
Posted by lovegetpeace at 12:42 PM : May 21, 2009





I like how Leon Panetta took over the CIA in January or February this year, has NO IDEA what happened in the agency way back when, but all the neo cons take what he says as ironclad proof.

Let's see their opinion of him, if and when he says that the war in Iraq made us less safe.

[czhnder]

He Will Succeed.!!!
Posted by bluegrass101-2009 at 12:41 PM : May 21, 2009

In your dreams!!!

[lovegetpeace]

Oops, AGAIN! It's Obama's CIA chief who said Pelosi is wrong. I guess you are just too much in touch with your feelings...
Posted by czhnder at 12:40 PM : May 21, 2009

It was not Obma's CIA Chief but a document from the Bush era. I love it when the CIA Chief is releasing documents without editing them.

[bluegrass101-2009]

When President Obama won the Presidency, I posted many times , in many sections that even if Obama won, that the Repub's would do everything in there Power to Sabotage, Destroy, Undermine, Smear and try to ruin any attempts by Pres. Obama to fix the Horrific Mess the Republicans left our Country in. War in Iraq for no reason other than a grab for Oil Cheney and Halliburton, the six Trillion increase of the Debt, Katrina Disaster, one and a half Trillion deficit from a 250 Billion surplus, the increase in ten Million more Illegals Bush and Rove allowed in and then sabotaged.... I was right !!! The Repig's will always be against Obama's attempt to Fix... Make No Mistake GOP--- He Will Succeed.!!!

[mcintoshlou]

easy solution to the gitmo detainee problem,

LETS HAVE EVERY SINGLE REPUBLI'CON' THAT SUPPORTED THE

BUSH/CHENEY IDIOCY TAKE A DETAINEE HOME WITH THEM,

[drsam8]

OBAMA/CHENEY DUEL ON THE TORTURE ISSUE
Democrats lost the argument on the torture issue when they allowed Cheney and other Republicans to successfully frame the debate around the ?effectiveness? of enhanced interrogation methods. And the corporate media went along, happily. The logical implication is stark and simple: If you can prove it is effective, then it is O.K. to use it. And to further make the point, Obama reserved for himself the right to use it in future if need be. Where then is the moral argument? Principle is indivisible--either it is priciple or it is not. Obama and Democrats should have insisted that what is at stake it the illegality and cruelty of certain interrogation methods such as waterboarding and prolonged sleep deprivation. Period. Finally, Obama should not have released classified documents on the issue selectively. He was hoping that that would be enough to show his transparency and that the issue would just go away. Now it is at center stage! That is why he should have supported a full-blown investigation(that should have shot Cheney?s mouth up)?making it clear that it is not simply a policy dispute between one another and another (another frame) but an investigation of possible criminality with the attendant need to uphold the law and regain U.S moral high ground in the commity of nations. Finally, Democrats in the Senate are doing their damn best to sabotage their own President--just think of their grandstanding on Gitmo closing!

[lovegetpeace]

Rush Limbaugh maintained his Dominant Role as Leader of the GOP today. With all of the coughing that DICK cheney did today he sounded almost terminal.
Posted by bluegrass101-2009 at 12:33 PM : May 21, 2009

Folks, we must be careful not to stress out DICK Cheney for he got heart problems.

[czhnder]

Pelosi was cool with it? Why arent you?
Posted by no_obamanation at 12:23 PM : May 21, 2009

Right now, this matter is a "She said He said" Either you trust the CIA under Bush/Cheney or you trust Pelosi. Let me help you recall that under Bush/Cheney, the CIA told us that Saddam had WMD and married to Al-Qaeda. You decide if your Party is Above your beloved Country.
Posted by lovegetpeace at 12:32 PM : May 21, 2009

Oops, AGAIN! It's Obama's CIA chief who said Pelosi is wrong. I guess you are just too much in touch with your feelings...