Just thought we needed a new thread to follow Obama’s first 100 days…
Day 1:
Drafting an order to close Gitmo in a year.
Suspending war crime trials at Gitmo.
Instituting a pay freeze on White House staff that make more than $100K a year
…and there’s probably some things I’m missing. I have to say I’m impressed. The guy is wasting no time getting to work. Contrast this with Bush when he first got in office in 2001. I don’t remember him doing much of anything. All in all, not a bad way to start an administration.
Not to forget that he apparently called Israelian Premier Ehud Olmert, Palestinensian President Mahmud Abbas, Jordian King Abdullah and Egypts President Hosni Mubarak today to push for peace talks. On his first day. Not a smal feat in my eyes. Granted it is more symbolic rather than substantial I guess but it shows a great shift in paradigm by this administration.
Now the icing on the cake would be the capturing of bin Laden in the next 24 hours. I guess Limbaugh and the likes would shoot themselves.
Originally Posted by RathBanduView Post That is a huge first day for any president. Anyone know if administration made the order to close Gitmo in a year public?
… Per Mik, Pentagon officials now confirm that at the “direction of the President” Defense Secretary Gates verbally ordered military prosecutors to seek a 120-day suspension of all military commission legal proceedings at Guantanamo Bay. The officials expect more detailed guidance on the next step but call this action “the first step in a broader, more comprehensive review of policies and procedures related to detainees at Guantanamo.” That more comprehensive review is expected to ultimately include orders to close the detention facility altogether.
Well, you missed the most important thing he did today, which was cracking down on lobbyists.
That was seriously impressive, he forbid gift giving by lobbyists, and imposed a series of criteria which will make them far less useful tools for the manipulation of the system.
Originally Posted by JanView Post Now the icing on the cake would be the capturing of bin Laden in the next 24 hours. I guess Limbaugh and the likes would shoot themselves.
That is very very very low on the long list of shit that needs to get done. Thankfully, the cabinet knows that better than you.
Originally Posted by NexusView Post That is very very very low on the long list of shit that needs to get done. Thankfully, the cabinet knows that better than you.
Who said anything about priorities? But since many media outlets have been reducing the complex issue of internal and global security on capturing this chimera rather than talking about politics it would be great to get this obstacle out of the way. Hence the mentioning of Limbaugh rather than any politician. So please spare me your faux snark.
Reading your post, you referred to Bin Laden’s capture as “icing on the cake”, the cake being the “great shift in paradigm by this administration”. Hopefully you can see where it does not compute.
I was gonna make this thread when I saw this helpful page from the BBC website.
Great start by Obama, even surprised his idolising fans I bet. Guantanamo seems like it will take time and effort, but hopefully within two years (or by this time next year?) it will be over with.
The problem with closing Guantanamo is you still have to do something with the people there. Which more then likely will mean declaring them POW and bringing them to the US.
Originally Posted by ElCapitanAmericaView Post No raises for staff making over 100K? Well, I’m glad I didn’t apply!
Check the back of next months Techie of Fortune, I’m sure there’s some far-flung banana republic that could use some mercenary IT assistance.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ElCapitanAmericaView Post On Bush’s first day he blocked federal foreign aid to groups that offered counseling or assistance to women to obtain abortions.
Funnily enough, I could have sworn I heard that tackling this is on Obama’s agenda for day 2.
Originally Posted by lordelseyView Post Which more then likely will mean declaring them POW and bringing them to the US.
I don’t see how this is in any way more problematic than Gitmo. What, we recognize militant Islam as an enemy actor? The disclosure of ‘secret evidence?’ These assholes have nowhere else to go. Either America admits that a number, possibly a majority, of these people were swept up in an indiscriminate move (and now they are probably radicalized), or they are bad dudes, and the evidence is there.
In the first instance, you make the guys wards of the state, and keep a very close eye on them. If they contact any terror networks or terror contacts, we know about it. Point: Us. If they don’t: sorry. Go about your business.
In the second: there has to be evidence. Terror networks are not mysterious shadows. They almost always touch on common actors, with common organizational connections. Self-started terrorists aren’t worth the time or effort, because they cannot do very much (right now, at least, God help us). If we haven’t discerned any evidence by now, what with the billions spent on our intelligence services and the torture and the years behind bars, you throw them back to the first category. And follow them closely. There are really no other alternatives, other than Gitmo till they die.
Originally Posted by cognizantView Post I was gonna make this thread when I saw this helpful page from the BBC website. Great start by Obama, even surprised his idolising fans I bet. Guantanamo seems like it will take time and effort, but hopefully within two years (or by this time next year?) it will be over with.
Some people have postulated that these prisoners would be moved to Federal prisons in the States like the Supermax in Colorado where Gotti died or Leavenworth.
What I wonder is with closing down Gitmo and suspension of the tribunals what will be the legal solution? Federal indictments in open court with the detainees given due process? Are we going to see a move away from enemy combatants to criminal prosecutions?
The wife (the scum sucking lawyer that she is) says their status as enemy combatants, even with the closing of Gitmo and the suspension of the tribunals, leaves everything in some sort of quasi-legal limbo. They’re not POW’s and they’re not criminals in the eyes of the law.
Hotdamn. Apparently he will not only close Gitmo but the “secret” CIA detention camps as well. While closing Gitmo might have been viewed as a publicity stunt to ease the minds of the electorate and the world, this actually seems like a sure sign that he is dead serious about this matter.
