A Backdoor Out of Gitmo
Obama's backdoor plan to close Guantanamo
The Guantanamo Bay prison population is down to 127 after the U.S. last week transferred five more detainees out of the facility. That total will drop further over the coming weeks when the Obama administration releases two more waves of prisoners, according to The New York Times, all of which is part of a strategy aimed at rendering the prison fiscally untenable.
President Obama's goal in the last two years of his presidency is to deplete the Guantanamo prison to the point where it houses 60 to 80 people and keeping it open no longer makes economic sense. [The New York Times]
Soon after taking office, Obama signed an executive order to close Guantanamo, but he's since been hamstrung by thorny political considerations surrounding the release of prisoners.