President Obama has admitted he won't meet his deadline of shuttinig the military prison at Guantanamo Bay by January. Although he now anticipates that Gitmo will close "next year," Obama declined to give a date, and this latest setback has led some to doubt if the prison will close at all. Is the president's missed deadline just a setback or evidence of a wider problem? (Watch a report on Obama's missed Gitmo deadline)
Get a move on: Why can't Obama recognize the urgency of closing Guantanamo? asks Larry Cox, president of Amnesty USA. Shutting the base isn't "a feel-good photo opportunity" but a "national security priority and a global obligation." The president needs to show some "leadership" and do what he promised, not "use Congress as his latest excuse" for inaction.
"Why Obama can't close Gitmo by his deadline?"
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It's not Obama's fault: Congres does share the blame, says AP writer Ben Fox, via ABC News, because it "refuses to accept prisoners on American soil." Obama wasn't alone in expecting a "warmer diplomatic response" to his plans to close the military base, but if America won't take Guantanamo detainees, why should other countries? And if no one will take them, how can Obama close Guantanamo?
"Behind missed Gitmo deadline: No one wants jailees"
The mistake is wanting to shut Gitmo: This admission illustrates Obama's "unpreparedness" when he took office, says Ed Morrissey at Hot Air. If he had taken time to "review the issues" and "confer with Congress," Obama would have realized "just how unique Gitmo actually is — and how necessary as well."
"Obama: Forget that January deadline for closing Gitmo"
Enough with the deadlines: Obama's bigger problem is his "writer’s lack of respect" for deadlines, says John Dickerson in Slate, and experience has not "cured" him of setting them. He's especially full of "deadline talk" on Afghanistan, "but given the uncertainty of war, he's not going to be able to keep all of his promises." If Obama keeps missing his own marks, voters may "simply view him as ineffective."