Obama says he'll keep working to shut down 'expensive,' 'unnecessary' Guantanamo prison

President Obama announced during his State of the Union address that he will "keep working to shut down the prison at Guantanamo," saying it is "expensive," "unnecessary," and "only serves as a recruitment brochure for our enemies."

Obama said it's important to "reject any politics that targets people because of race or religion," not as a matter of "political correctness," but a "matter of understanding what makes us strong." The world respects the United States "not just for our arsenal; it respects us for our diversity and openness and the way we respect every faith."

Americans are not made safer when "politicians insult Muslims, when a mosque is vandalized, or a kid is called names." That's not "telling it like it is," the president said. "It's just wrong. It diminishes us in the eyes of the world. It makes it harder to achieve our goals. And it betrays who we are as a country." Catherine Garcia

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